2024 Best of the Best Awards names Australia’s top financial providers

The magazine names 105 gold winners across 72 categories, including term deposits, home loans, superannuation, insurance, managed funds, ETFs, online broking, as well as mobile phone plans, broadband, and cars.

“With a possible recession in 2024, rather than instilling fear, we want to encourage consumers to approach this downcycle with a sense of anticipation. To be cautious and maintain their emergency savings, but pounce on the bargain opportunities that will present themselves,” says Money magazine editor-in-chief, Michelle Baltazar.

Money worked with Rainmaker Information, WhistleOut and carsales.com.au to assess thousands of products from hundreds of providers to find the best deals for consumers.

“By combining high or double-digit returns from our fund winners with lower fees from our Best of the Best super funds, banks and insurers, consumers can start the new year on a strong footing by getting the best deals,” says Baltazar.

The full list of Best of the Best winners is revealed in Money’s December-January issue, on sale now.

The magazine is available at all good newsagents, supermarkets and online.

The 2024 Best of the Best Award winners include:

Best-Value Flexible Home Loans: Adelaide Bank (Major Bank), ING (Boutique Bank), Hume Bank (Customer-Owned Bank), Reduce Home Loans (Non-Bank Lender)

Adelaide Bank’s Variable SmartFit home loan has won again this year in the major bank category with a comparison rate of 6.05%. ING won this year in the boutique bank category with a rate of 6.13% and no upfront fees.

Best Investment Manager: Macquarie Asset Management

This year’s best investment manager, Macquarie Asset Management, wins the award for the third time in four years. The Macquarie Enhanced Property Securities Fund placed second this year in Best Australia Listed Property Funds, with Macquarie International Infrastructure Securities Fund (Unhedged) placing second in Best Listed Real Assets Funds, Macquarie Australian Shares Fund placing third in Best Australian Shares Funds, and the Macquarie Australian Small Companies Fund placing fourth for Best Small Companies Funds – Australian Shares.

Best ETF Manager: Betashares

With five individual awards to its credit, this year’s Best EFT Manager, Betashares, now offers a wide range of ETFs with more than $30 billion under management.

The Betashares Australian Bank Senior Floating Rate Bond ETF won Best Fixed-Interest Exchange Traded Funds and the Best Income Funds – Variable Interest, while the Betashares Australia 200 ETF won the Best Australian Shares Exchange Traded Funds, the Betashares S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF won the Best International Shares Smart Beta ETFs, and the Betashares FTSE RAFI Australia 200 ETF won the Best Australian Shares Smart Beta ETFs.

Best Super Fund: Hostplus

Hostplus, this year’s fund of the year, was shortlisted as a finalist in seven categories. The super fund has demonstrated an enviable track record of scoring good returns in all sorts of markets, with Hostplus sitting at the top of superannuation performance tables over 20, 15, 10, seven and five years, as well as 12 months.

Best-Value Car Insurance and Best-Value Home & Contents Insurance: Budget Direct

Budget Direct has become synonymous with providing competitively priced policies, a reputation it has been able to back up over the years – the insurer has won Best-Value Car Insurance six years in a row now. Budget Direct has also won Best-Value Home & Contents Insurance in seven of the past eight years, offering the most affordable home and contents cover in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane for the scenarios judged in the awards process.