In this guide
Most super accounts are in a MySuper default option, where a professional trustee decides how much to hold in growth assets such as shares and property. In your 50s and 60s that decision carries more weight, because your balance is bigger and there is less time to recover from a market fall.
Lifecycle funds show how trustees respond. Our article on what lifecycle super funds hold for younger members showed that most keep members at around 90% in growth assets until their late 40s. This article picks up the story at 50, when they start to step down, and follows it through to 70. Even if your super isn’t in a lifecycle option, what they do is a useful guide to how professionals think about risk around retirement.
Through your 50s and 60s, the two kinds of MySuper default go in different directions.
- A lifecycle default cuts growth assets as you approach retirement. The median lifecycle option holds 87% in growth assets at 50, 74% at 60 and 67% at 65.
- A single strategy default doesn’t change. The median holds 76% in growth assets at every age. About two-thirds of MySuper accounts, 10.7 million, are in one of these defaults.
The two designs meet at about 60. By 65, 16 of the 23 lifecycle products hold less in growth assets than even the most cautious single strategy default. Then, on the day you start a pension, the default disappears altogether and the investment decision becomes yours.
Why funds reduce risk before retirement
The years either side of retirement are when a market fall does the most damage. Your balance is at or near its largest, you have few working years left to make up a loss, and once you retire you may be drawing an income from a falling balance. This is known as sequencing risk.
The same percentage fall costs far more in dollars. A 10% fall on a $30,000 balance at 25 costs $3,000. The same fall on $600,000 at 62 costs $60,000, with far fewer working years left to make it back.
Superannuation and retirement specialist Harry Chemay compares two members caught by the COVID-19 market fall in early 2020. For someone who was 19 at the start of 2019, the effect on their final super benefit would be negligible. “If you were a 59-year-old in January 2019, looking forward to retiring on your 60th birthday in the middle of 2020, then that’s a bigger problem because you just don’t have the time to recover.”
How much lifecycle funds reduce growth assets
Most lifecycle products hold close to their highest growth allocation until about 50, then step down over the next 15 years. Across the 23 products, the median holds:
- 87% in growth assets at age 50
- 81% at 55
- 74% at 60
- 67% at 65.
That is a fall of 14 percentage points between 55 and 65 alone.
Growth assets in MySuper defaults, ages 50 to 70
Median, highest and lowest strategic growth asset allocation across the 23 MySuper lifecycle products at each age, compared with the 27 single strategy MySuper products, which hold the same allocation at every age. The highest and lowest lines can belong to different products at different ages. QSuper Lifetime, which also sets its stages by account balance, is shown at its highest group. Source: APRA, Comprehensive Product Performance Package, MySuper products, 30 June 2026
Because a single strategy default holds the same allocation throughout, the two designs meet at about 60, when the lifecycle median is 74% and the single strategy median is 76%. After that the lines cross. At 65, 16 of the 23 lifecycle products hold less than 68.3%, the lowest growth allocation of any single strategy default.
So the same single strategy default that holds less growth than almost every lifecycle fund for a 25-year-old holds more than most of them for a 65-year-old.
Funds have differing views on the path
Lifecycle funds agree on the direction, but not on how far, how fast or when. At 60, the lowest lifecycle allocation is 49% at Bendigo MySuper and the highest is 83% at AMP, a gap of 34 percentage points for members the same age.
The differences are deliberate. “These are just strategic decisions that different funds have made based on their membership bases,” says Chemay. A fund whose members are mostly older may step down sooner, while one with a younger membership may take a more gradual path.
- Active Super makes most of its cut early. It drops from 90% to 75% at 50, then to 56% at 55, and holds that from then on.
- Vanguard reduces growth assets a little every year from age 48, to 70% at 60 and 62% at 65.
- Aware Super holds 89% until 55, then steps down each year to 66% at 65.
- AMP sets its mix by decade of birth, so everyone born in the 1960s holds 83%, more than any single strategy default.
How four lifecycle products reduce growth assets, ages 50 to 70
Strategic growth asset allocation at each age for four of the 23 MySuper lifecycle products, chosen to show different approaches. AMP is SignatureSuper MySuper, which sets its stages by decade of birth. Source: APRA, Comprehensive Product Performance Package, MySuper products, 30 June 2026
The table below shows APRA’s growth allocation and 10-year return at age 60 for every MySuper product, so you can see where your own default sits. Our lifecycle tool shows what each lifecycle option holds for your birth year.
Growth assets and 10-year returns at age 60 for all 50 MySuper products
| Fund | MySuper product | Type | Growth assets, age 60 | 10-year return, age 60 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AustralianSuper | Balanced | Single strategy | 73.4% | 8.3% |
| Rest | Growth | Single strategy | 76.2% | 7.3% |
| Hostplus | Balanced | Single strategy | 80.3% | 8.7% |
| Australian Retirement Trust | Lifecycle Investment Strategy | Lifecycle | 71.3% | 7.2% |
| HESTA | Balanced Growth | Single strategy | 74.2% | 8.0% |
| Aware Super | MySuper Lifecycle | Lifecycle | 79.4% | 6.9% |
| Cbus | Growth | Single strategy | 76.1% | 7.8% |
| CareSuper | Balanced | Single strategy | 71.9% | 7.3% |
| Australian Retirement Trust | QSuper Lifetime* | Lifecycle | 54.3% | 4.7% |
| UniSuper | Balanced | Single strategy | 76.7% | 8.1% |
| Mercer Super | SmartPath | Lifecycle | 75.6% | 7.8% |
| MLC Super | MLC MySuper | Lifecycle | 74.5% | 7.1% |
| AMP | SignatureSuper MySuper | Lifecycle | 83.0% | 6.3% |
| ANZ Smart Choice Super | MySuper | Lifecycle | 74.9% | 7.3% |
| Colonial First State | FirstChoice Employer Super MySuper | Lifecycle | 73.5% | 7.9% |
| PSSap | MySuper Balanced | Single strategy | 69.1% | 7.6% |
| Essential Super | Lifestage | Lifecycle | 73.5% | 7.1% |
| Prime Super | MySuper | Single strategy | 75.8% | 7.0% |
| Brighter Super | MySuper | Single strategy | 78.6% | 7.6% |
| Team Super | MySuper Lifecycle | Lifecycle | 76.6% | 4.9% |
| Australian Ethical | Balanced (Accumulation) | Single strategy | 72.2% | 7.0% |
| Equip Super | MySuper | Single strategy | 71.8% | 7.5% |
| Guild Super | MySuper Lifecycle | Lifecycle | 66.8% | 6.2% |
| NGS Super | Diversified | Single strategy | 78.9% | 7.7% |
| Virgin Money Super | LifeStage Tracker | Lifecycle | 72.2% | 7.9% |
| First Super | Balanced | Single strategy | 79.5% | 7.2% |
| BUSSQ | MySuper | Single strategy | 69.8% | 6.7% |
| Vision Super | MySuper | Single strategy | 76.6% | 8.1% |
| Australian Food Super | MySuper | Single strategy | 68.2% | 7.1% |
| IOOF | MySuper† | Single strategy | 74.2% | 7.3% |
| Active Super | Lifestage | Lifecycle | 55.6% | 4.5% |
| Russell Investments iQ Super | GoalTracker | Lifecycle | 73.0% | 6.6% |
| Vanguard Super | Lifecycle | Lifecycle | 70.0% | n/a |
| ADF Super | MySuper Balanced | Single strategy | 69.1% | n/a |
| legalsuper | MySuper Balanced | Single strategy | 77.7% | 7.9% |
| smartMonday | PRIME MySuper | Lifecycle | 69.3% | 5.1% |
| MLC Super | NAB Staff MySuper | Single strategy | 77.4% | 7.6% |
| Rei Super | Balanced | Single strategy | 73.2% | 6.5% |
| ANZ Staff Super | Balanced | Single strategy | 70.8% | 7.4% |
| NESS Super | MySuper | Single strategy | 78.1% | 7.3% |
| Bendigo Super | MySuper | Lifecycle | 48.8% | 4.8% |
| Mercer Super | WGSP MySuper | Lifecycle | 75.6% | 8.1% |
| Mercer Super | Tailored (CRG) MySuper | Lifecycle | 75.6% | n/a |
| Macquarie Group Super Plan | MySuper | Single strategy | 76.0% | 7.2% |
| Lutheran Super Plan | MySuper | Single strategy | 77.0% | 8.3% |
| AMP | SignatureSuper Water Corp MySuper | Lifecycle | 83.0% | n/a |
| Superhero Super | MySuper Growth | Single strategy | 80.5% | 6.8% |
| AMP | SignatureSuper AFLPA AFL MySuper | Lifecycle | 83.0% | 6.5% |
| Mercer Super | Santos MySuper | Lifecycle | 75.6% | 7.8% |
| ANZ Smart Choice Super | QBE Super Plan MySuper | Lifecycle | 74.9% | 7.3% |
Growth assets is APRA’s strategic growth asset allocation, on APRA’s own definition of growth and defensive assets, so it may not match the figures in a fund’s own documents. Single strategy products hold the same option at every age. For lifecycle products, the figures are for the option a 60-year-old is in. Returns are the net return a year over the 10 years to 30 June 2026 for a representative member with a $50,000 balance, after investment and administration fees, costs and tax. n/a means less than 10 years of history. Past returns are not a reliable indicator of future returns. *QSuper Lifetime also sets its options by account balance; the figures are for the highest of its three groups at age 60. †IOOF MySuper returns are reported before tax and are not comparable with other products. Source: APRA, Comprehensive Product Performance Package, MySuper products, 30 June 2026
What do lifecycle options hold at your age?
Enter your birth year to see every MySuper lifecycle option and the growth assets it holds for members your age.
What lower risk has meant for returns
Over the 10 years to 30 June 2026, the option a 60-year-old sat in returned a median of 6.96% a year in lifecycle products, against 7.45% in single strategy products. Those are net returns for a representative member with a $50,000 balance, after fees, costs and tax. The gap that favoured younger lifecycle members has turned the other way.
Growth assets and 10-year returns at age 60, by MySuper product
Each dot is one MySuper product. Growth assets is APRA’s strategic growth asset allocation for the option a 60-year-old is in. Returns are the net return a year over the 10 years to 30 June 2026 for a representative member with a $50,000 balance, after investment and administration fees, costs and tax. Excludes five products: four with less than 10 years of history, and IOOF MySuper, whose returns are reported before tax. QSuper Lifetime also sets its options by account balance and is shown at the highest of its three groups at age 60. Past returns are not a reliable indicator of future returns. Source: APRA, Comprehensive Product Performance Package, MySuper products, 30 June 2026
Over this decade, products with more in growth assets have generally earned higher returns. But more growth assets also means bigger swings in your balance from year to year, and bigger losses when markets fall.
The lower returns are the cost of holding fewer growth assets in a decade when growth assets did well. What lifecycle funds are buying with it is a smaller fall if markets drop sharply in the years just before or after you retire. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Your default ends when your pension starts
MySuper only covers the years you are building your super. When you move your super into an account-based pension or a transition to retirement pension, there is no MySuper default and no glidepath. The investment option is yours to choose, and if you don’t choose one, your fund will commonly put you in one of its diversified options.
“Once you move into one of those products, the investment decisions are on you,” says Chemay.
That handover can catch people out. Chemay points out that someone who stays in a lifecycle option well past retirement age can end up holding less in growth assets than their fund’s pension options do. Three lifecycle products hold about half in growth assets for members in their 70s. If someone in one of them then starts a pension and chooses their fund’s balanced option, they can end up with more in growth assets, taking on more risk just as they start drawing an income.
Before you start a pension, check the growth allocation of the option you are in now and of the option you are moving to.
You don’t have to make that choice alone. Chemay suggests asking your fund what help it offers members moving into retirement. That may include a risk profiling tool, a retirement income projection tool, and advice by phone or face to face, often about your account in the fund at no extra cost.
How much growth lifecycle funds keep after 65
Lifecycle funds don’t move members into cash. The median lifecycle product still holds 67% in growth assets at 65 and 62% at 70, and half of the 16 different lifecycle designs keep at least 60% in growth assets all the way to 80.
The reason is how long retirement can last. On the 10/30/60 rule of thumb, up to 60% of the money you withdraw from super in retirement comes from investment earnings after you stop work.
Cash protects you from market falls, but it does little to grow your savings. “Cash struggles to even just keep up with inflation over time,” says Chemay. “So effectively, that means that you’re going to get somewhere around a zero percent return after cost of living adjustments.”
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