Your super fund reached a milestone in January, hitting $10 billion of retirement savings under management. In fact, thanks to your support and sound investment management, growth of your fund topped an impressive 107% over the past five years.

Why is this good?

It means that you, along with over 313,000 other fund members across metro and regional Western Australia, can plan, build and manage your retirement savings even more effectively. This impressive growth helps you in three key ways:

• This growth means your super fund can manage investment risk even more effectively for you. Your super fund's default investment options, where the majority of your super fund members' retirement savings are invested, have delivered top quartile investment returns¹ over the past year to 31 December 2009;
  
• More can be invested in continually improving the award-winning products, services² and member education resources that you already enjoy.  In fact, your super fund recently received the highest ratings³ from its members for member education services of any Australian super provider;
  
• And, your super fund can offer you all these benefits even more cost effectively, with fees that are currently ranked amongst the lowest 15 per cent of surveyed Australian superannuation providers for the majority of members⁴.

Your super fund's continued growth means it can go on delivering these and other benefits to help you build a healthier super balance. 

¹ West State Super Balanced plan and GESB Super Balanced Growth plan 1-year returns, SuperRatings Fund Crediting Rate Survey, December 2009.
² SuperRatings awarded GESB Super, West State Super and Retirement Income Allocated Pension its highest Platinum rating in 2010, granted to only the top 15% of the best 'value for money' funds. Chant West awarded GESB Super, West State Super and Retirement Income Allocated Pension its highest rating in 2010, Five Apples.
³  2009 Investor/Member Sentiment and Communications Report.
⁴ On a $50,000 account balance, GESB Super's fee of $381 and West State Super's fee of $376 sit below the not for profit average of $514, the industry average of $753 and well below the retail master trust average of $1,032. GESB Super Benchmark Report, SuperRatings 2009.