Competition for Australia's $1.2 trillion superannuation bank is fierce between the major providers.
MLC attracts superannuation savers with the biggest incomes, Axa Australia's clients have larger account balances, but Colonial First State (CFS) outranks them both with the highest number of wealthiest customers.
The latest data from research house Roy Morgan shows a hotly contested battle for the retirement savings of lucrative high-net worth Australians.
Around 32,000 people with superannuation savings, surveyed in the 12 months to September 2007, contributed to a snapshot of the super boom post-choice.
According to the data, National Australia Bank's wealth manager MLC outshone AMP, Axa, CFS, Westpac's BT Financial Group and industry funds with an annual average personal income per customer of $56,000. The industry average is $46,800.
An average Axa client has $120,400 invested in their super, making the group the clear leader of the pack above an industry average of $101,700.
Almost one-third - 28.9 per cent of Commonwealth Bank of Australia-owned CFS customers had $100,000 or more in super, compared to the industry average of 22.5 per cent.
However, self-managed super funds (SMSF) members retained their status as having much higher levels of wealth than industry or retail fund members.
An average SMSF has $605,000 in super, six times higher than the industry average.
Ninety per cent of people who switched to a self-managed super fund sought financial advice.
Almost half (43 per cent) of switchers to SMSFs left their superannuation provider due to fees and charges and over a third (36 per cent) said they started their own funds due to investment performance.
"SMSFs are particularly successful in attracting high quality customers, suggesting that, conversely, major retail funds and industry funds are particularly poor at attracting or retaining such customers," the report concluded.
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