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Investment performance Investment performance
Investment performance is the term often used to describe how much a super fund made during a period, typically over 12 months, or 3 years, or 5 years or 10 years. The investment performance is often expressed as a percentage, for example, ABC super fund delivered a return of 10% for the 12 months ending 30 June.
The following articles refer to Investment performance and superannuation.

By Trish Power on February 19, 2010
The self-managed super fund (SMSF) sector is “in pretty good shape” according to Jeremy Cooper, chair of the Super System Review.
Speaking at a SMSF industry (SPAA) conference on 18 February 2010, Cooper stated that, on average, SMSFs have become cheaper to run as SMSF account balances have grown, while still maintaining [...]
Categories: DIY super, Super basics | Related superannuation topics: Financial advice, Investment performance, Jeremy Cooper, SMSFs, Super System Review

By Trish Power on December 22, 2009
Rating company, SuperRatings, expects the balanced options of Australia’s major super funds to deliver an investment return after fees and taxes of between 10% and 12% for the 2009 calendar year. More on this later.
Before I expand on this prediction, I want to explain how the reporting of fund returns works, [...]
Categories: Comparing funds, Super basics | Related superannuation topics: 2009, Balanced option, GFC, Investment performance, Returns, Super contributions, SuperRatings

By Trish Power on December 14, 2009
On 10 December 2009, the Government’s Super System Review released ‘A statistical summary of self-managed superannuation funds’. Although mainly based on data as at June 2008, the document provides interesting insights into what the ‘average’ SMSF is doing in terms of fund costs, asset allocation and investment performance.
SMSFs are cheaper [...]
Categories: DIY super | Related superannuation topics: Asset allocation, ATO, Fees, Fund audit, Investment performance, Jeremy Cooper, Self-managed super funds (SMSFs), Super System Review

By Trish Power on September 29, 2009
In August 2009, financial regulator APRA released performance data on Australia’s largest 200 funds. In the August SuperGuide newsletter, we noted that the performance figures have received a lot of criticism from the super industry. I think the level of criticism is a bit unfair.
Categories: Comparing funds, Super basics | Related superannuation topics: APRA, Corporate funds, Industry funds, Investment, Investment performance, Lost super, Public sector funds, Retail funds, SuperSeeker

By Trish Power on September 26, 2009
Rating agency, SelectingSuper has conducted some nifty research on the fees that super funds charge, and in generous fashion SelectingSuper regularly releases the highlights of this research for free access by the general public.
So, kudos to SelectingSuper and Alex Dunnin for creating the three tables that appear in this article. [...]
Categories: Comparing funds, Retirement planning | Related superannuation topics: Balanced option, Default investment option, Fees, Growth option, Investment performance, Pensions, SelectingSuper, TER

By Trish Power on September 26, 2009
Asking experts and rating agencies for the answer to what super fund is Australia’s best-performing fund can be compared to the vain stepmother in the fairy tale Snow White asking the magical mirror: ‘Mirror mirror on the wall, who in the land is the fairest of all?”. The answer on one [...]
Categories: Comparing funds, Retirement planning | Related superannuation topics: Accumulation, Balanced option, Chant West, Growth option, Investment options, Investment performance, MorningStar, Pensions, SelectingSuper, SuperRatings

By Trish Power on September 15, 2009
A common and reasonable question is, what does a good super fund look like? Professional rating companies, such as SelectingSuper, SuperRatings and Chant West, evaluate and rate Australia’s largest super funds against criteria such as:
investment performance
number of investment options
fees
insurance
extra services, such as financial planning services and [...]
Categories: Comparing funds, Super basics | Related superannuation topics: Choosing a fund, Fees, Insurance, Investment performance, Product Disclosure Statement, Standard Choice Form

By Trish Power on August 24, 2009
Before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) hit in October 2008, around a third of Australian super funds delivered returns averaging at least 9% per annum over the five-year period from 2004 to 2008, while 10% of super funds were delivering double-digit returns over this same period, according to performance data released [...]
Categories: Comparing funds, Retirement planning | Related superannuation topics: APRA, ASFA, GFC, Investment performance

By Trish Power on July 30, 2009
Q: I’m new to Australia and I have absolutely no idea where to start with my super in order to have the best outcome 40 years from now. So far, I have had my super spread through about 3 different industry super funds, as organised by temp agencies. I know this is not the way [...]
Categories: Super basics | Related superannuation topics: ASIC, ATO, FIDO, Fund choice, Investment performance, Lost super, NICRI, Q&A, Rating companies, Super for Beginners, Super funds, Superannuation For Dummies

By Trish Power on July 29, 2009
In case you needed further proof of the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC), a recent survey titled Self Funded Retirees has found that retirees have been hit hard by the extended market downturn, while many baby boomers planning to retire have reconsidered and opted to remain in the workforce for a longer period.
Research [...]
Categories: Retirement planning, Super basics | Related superannuation topics: Baby boomers, Financial advice, Investment, Investment performance, Retirement, Self-funded retirees

By Trish Power on July 15, 2009
Investing can put you on the fast track to real wealth due to the amazing effects of compound interest, which is also known as compound earnings. Compound interest is earnings on any earnings that you have reinvested.
Reinvesting the income you earn from your investments is the key to rapidly accumulating wealth. [...]
Categories: DIY super, Super basics | Related superannuation topics: Double your money, Investing, Investment performance, Rule of 72

By Trish Power on July 11, 2009
Every month or two the media reports the latest returns from Australia’s largest super funds. You may look at your member statement (which provides a summary of your benefits) from your own fund and wonder why the returns being paid into your account don’t reflect the returns announced in the papers [...]
Categories: Comparing funds | Related superannuation topics: ASIC, Balanced option, Conservative investment option, Default investment option, FIDO, Investment choice, Investment options, Investment performance