I agree W, if you want to spend the time and effort and do it right, then SMSF is the way to go.
For those that don't, retail vs. industry funds argument is full of incorrect info and only part of the facts. A lot of the info is not comparing apples with apples but paris with pears. Take Balanced funds, Ind F average has more shares than 'retail' average, so should perform slightly better in time. Also, 70% of default Ind Funds have Balanced, retail it's 30%, so the majority make other choices. IF's might say 'not for profit', but that may mean that there's nothing left over after the Unions have gouged as much as they can out of the deals they do with providers and others. Don't be fooled.
The older retail super funds have pretty well being phased out over recent years for wholesale options, where fees are more transperent and you can use much more specialised investment options (not provided by IF's eg hedged international funds), including shares. These are often competitive with IF's, especially as your balance grows (with IP's you pay same % whether $1 or $1mill).
It might surprise you that not everybody wants to do the research and work themselves because their time is better spent earning the dough, so delegate to others.
Lastly, if an IF member wants advice on their Industry Fund from an external Adviser (as many do and is growing), they have to pay for this out of their after-tax money, because IF's are a closed shop. Maybe that should be added back in to the 'pair' comparison.
