Money magazine’s biggest issue of the year is here, naming the best financial products and services to help Aussies get a better deal.
The magazine named 128 gold winners including credit cards, term deposits, bank accounts, loans, superannuation, insurance, managed funds, ETFs, online broking, as well as phone plans, broadband, cars and wine.
Australians could save thousands by switching to the products and services named in the annual bumper awards issue.
“This year’s Best of the Best includes many repeat winners – showing that they are truly tried and tested, as well as some who are making their first appearances in the top spots. This shows that competition is strong and no-one has the ability to rest on their laurels from one year to the next,” says Money magazine editor-at-large Julia Newbould.
Money worked with Rainmaker Information, InfoChoice, WhistleOut and Carsales to assess thousands of products from hundreds of providers and find the best deals for consumers.
“Budgets are tight for many of our readers, so it’s important that we are able to help them save by switching to these award-winning products,” said Newbould.
“Even targeting one or two of the spending categories can result in big savings for Aussie families and our experts have done the heavy lifting in selecting the best value providers in so many categories.”
Macquarie Bank took out first place for the Best-Value Basic Home Loan award with a rate of 2.19% with no upfront fees, while Bankwest once again was named Best Value Standard Credit Card and Great Southern Bank took out the award for the Best Children’s Savings Account.
SpinTel was named Best-Value NBN Broadband Plan, and also won the award Best-Value Mobile Plans – Average Usage for the fifth consecutive year.
Money magazine and its research partners find the best deal for readers by focusing on the best-value products rather than just the cheapest.
“Focusing on finding the best value rather than price has allowed us to showcase products going that extra mile for consumers,” said Newbould.
The full list of Best of the Best winners is revealed in Money’s December-January issue, out now.
The magazine is available at all good newsagents, supermarkets and online.
The Best of the Best Award winners include:
Best Investment Manager: Vanguard Investments Australia
Vanguard Australian Fixed Interest Index ETF (VAF) won the award for best fixed interest ETF this year. The Vanguard Global Infrastructure Index Fund placed second in its category, the Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Company Index (VLC) placed second and the Vanguard US Total Market Shares Index ETF (VTS) placed fifth.
Best ETF Manager: BetaShares
BetaShares was the ETF provider with the most products shortlisted across the different award categories this year. It featured in the top five in Best Australian Shares Income Fund, Best Australian Shares ETF and Best International Shares ETF.
Best Super Fund: UniSuper
Since opening up as a public offer fund this year, the $100 billion fund has been welcoming new members. UniSuper has performed strongly over the long-term with the balanced option returning 10.5% per annum over the 10 years to the end of September 2021, with the one-year performance to that date at 21.6%.
Best Savings Account: Macquarie Bank (bank), Virgin Money (non-bank)
Macquarie Bank (bank) has taken out the top honour again in this category with a base and max rate of 1.1%. The two numbers consumers should be looking out for are the base rate and the maximum rate. They range from 0.1% to 1.5% for our six finalists this year. Despite the low interest rate environment these providers compete in – there is still great value to be found. None of the top six providers within this category charged monthly fees.
Best-value flexible home loans: G&C Mutual (Bank), Macquarie Bank (Major Bank), Freedom Lend (Non-Bank)
G&C Mutual Bank provides a competitive rate of 2.21%, no establishment fee and a 100% offset account, redraw and unlimited extra repayments. Macquarie offered a rate of 2.52% with 10 offset accounts and a linked debit account. Freedom Lend moved up in the non-bank category this year from second place last year with the most competitive rate of 2.14%.
Best-value car insurance and best-value home & contents insurance: Budget Direct
Budget Direct has won best-value car insurance four years in a row, but it cannot afford to rest easy in the top spot of this competitive category. In its sharp pricing model, Budget Direct continues to provide value by keeping its business costs low, using online and social media to market itself and by making it easy for customers to interact with the business online. Budget Direct has also won best-value home & contents insurance in five of the last six years.
About Money magazine
Money is Australia’s longest-running, highest-selling and most-read personal finance magazine. Founded in 1999, Money magazine provides credible, independent and easy-to-understand financial information, helping readers to earn more, save more and make the most of their investments.
Money magazine is a Rainmaker Group company.
About Rainmaker Group
The Rainmaker Group was founded in 1992 and has established a reputation as a leading financial services information company in Australia, providing market intelligence, industry research, media and publishing, events and consulting services.
Rainmaker produces strategic, tactical, and analytical information about the financial services industry predominantly for superannuation funds, investment managers, financial planners and consumers.
The Rainmaker Group comprises: Rainmaker Information, Financial Standard,
FS Aspire CPD, SelectingSuper, SelectAdviser, Industry Moves, FS Sustainability and Money magazine.
This article was sourced from a media release sent by Medianet
