Industry fund
HESTA
HESTA is open to everyone, with roots in health and community services. Its default insurance design is a particularly useful point of difference to investigate.
THE OVERVIEW
About HESTA
HESTA describes itself as the industry fund dedicated to health and community services, while accepting members outside those sectors, including people who are self-employed.
Who can join
Anyone can join subject to product eligibility. Check whether the relevant product is HESTA Super, Personal Super or an employer-specific arrangement.
THE SUPERGURU VIEW
Our take
HESTA merits a closer look for someone whose working life includes caring roles, part-time work or parental leave. Its default income protection and optional TPD structure makes a generic insurance tick-box misleading. Read the benefit definitions and waiting periods, and compare the cover you need rather than simply counting how many insurance types a fund advertises.
Who might put it on their shortlist
- People in health and community services who want to examine the fund's relevant insurance and advice arrangements.
- Members who value an income protection component in their default cover.
- People comparing a dedicated sustainable option with the fund's ordinary diversified portfolio.
What deserves a closer look
- Default cover is not the same as automatic cover for every new member.
- TPD is optional, so do not assume the usual death-plus-TPD pattern applies.
- Income protection premiums, benefit periods and waiting periods can make a larger difference than a small investment-fee gap.
- Parental-leave premium relief requires approval and satisfaction of its conditions.
Sources4
Based on the cited product features. These are general reasons to investigate the fund, not a personal recommendation. Supporting sources.
THE NUMBERS
Fees and investment returns
Use the product, investment option and employer plan on your statement. Lifecycle members need to choose the relevant stage. APRA's investment pathways may include closed options held by existing members.
| Measure | HESTA MySuper |
|---|---|
| Return basis | MySuper net return after administration costs, $50,000 representative member |
| 3-year return, per year | 9.26% |
| 5-year return, per year | 6.91% |
| 7-year return, per year | 7.47% |
| 10-year return, per year | 8.03% |
| APRA strategic growth allocation | 74.25% |
| Reported total fees, net of tax, at $50,000 | $405 a year (0.81%) |
| Administration and advice costs, net of tax (included in total) | $145 a year |
| 2026 performance test | Pass |
| New-member status at reporting date | Check the current product eligibility rules |
Source: APRA Comprehensive Product Performance Package 2026, published 28 August 2026. Fees reflect the reporting year to 30 June 2026, are net of tax, use standard arrangements and exclude member-activity fees. Dollar figures are rounded. They are not a current quote. Check the latest PDS for changes, insurance premiums and any separately charged advice.
Returns are annualised historical results. Different return bases, risk levels and periods cannot be treated as interchangeable. MySuper net returns use a $50,000 representative balance even when you change the fee balance. A lifecycle stage return does not track a person moving between stages. Missing figures mean not reported, not zero. Past returns do not predict future returns. Read our method and APRA's definitions.
A CLOSER LOOK
Inside HESTA
Accounts and products
HESTA Super and Personal Super; Corporate insurance arrangements need their own guide.
HESTA Super
HESTA Personal Super
Retirement Income Stream
Transition to Retirement Income Stream
Sources7
Investment choices
Balanced Growth
Balanced Growth is the MySuper default. Members can choose other ready-made or asset-class options. The menu includes Sustainable Growth and Indexed Balanced Growth; the Income Stream has its own investment range and disclosure document.
Insurance
Eligible members receive default death and income protection cover; TPD cover is optional. HESTA also describes an insurance-premium pause for up to 12 months of approved parental leave, subject to conditions. Personal Super members need to check how cover is selected when joining.
Retirement income
HESTA offers Retirement and Transition to Retirement Income Streams. The fund publishes a separate pension investment menu, so check the income-stream allocation and costs rather than assuming they are identical to the super option with a similar name.
Sources3
Advice and support
Most advice about a HESTA account is covered by administration fees. Advice tailored to starting an Income Stream has a separate fee, and comprehensive advice can be provided through an external referral on an agreed fee-for-service basis.
Sources6
Fee details to check
Add administration, investment and transaction costs for the selected option and the insurance you actually hold. HESTA's current fee page uses costs for the year ended 30 June 2026, including estimates, and warns that future costs can differ.
Sources6
Comparing investment performance
Use HESTA Super returns for a super comparison and Income Stream returns for a retirement comparison. Match Balanced Growth's asset mix with the competing option rather than using the word Balanced alone. Sustainable and indexed strategies need their own results.
List HESTA's default insurance types explicitly.
Treat Sustainable Growth as a specific investment option, not a description of every HESTA investment.
Sources7
THE LEGAL FUND
Fund size in APRA's annual reporting
HESTA
At 30 June 2025. These are legal-fund totals, which can include several products and more than one account per person.
APRA annual fund-level statistics, June 2025. These older totals can differ substantially after mergers. Size is not a measure of suitability or investment quality.
Sources for HESTA
Checked 2026-09-11. Documents and product terms can change after this date.