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Best performing super funds: High Growth category (81–95%)

Important: Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The returns that super funds achieve will change over time and readers should continue to monitor their fund’s performance.

All information on SuperGuide is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether any information on SuperGuide is appropriate for you before acting on it. If SuperGuide refers to a financial product you should obtain the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or seek personal financial advice before making any investment decisions.

In this article you can discover the top 10 performing High Growth super funds over 1 year and, more importantly, 10 years. We recommend that you also read our explanatory article on the five main risk categories to help you compare the different risk categories that super investment options fall into.

What is a High Growth investment option?

Investment options with an 81–95% allocation to growth assets are termed High Growth by Chant West, a research company that has been analysing super fund performance for more than 20 years.

High Growth investment options may appeal to people who want the high return opportunities of growth assets with the slight cushioning effect of a small exposure to defensive assets.

Good to know

Investments such as shares, property, infrastructure and private equity are referred to as growth assets for their ability to produce strong returns over the long term, but they are more likely to experience volatility (and even negative returns) in shorter timeframes. Conversely, assets like cash and fixed interest are referred to as defensive assets for their ability to defend against volatility, but generally cannot produce high returns over long periods of time.

How does a High Growth investment option behave?

In the short term, investment options in the High Growth risk category may experience more volatility than a Growth-style investment, but less volatility than an All Growth-style investment.

In the long term, a High Growth-style investment option will generally grow more than a Growth-style investment option but not as much as an All Growth-style investment option.

Playing the long game

It’s important to keep an eye on how your super is performing for you year to year (and interesting to see how other funds have performed), but for most people, superannuation will be the longest-held investment we ever have, and our lens on super should reflect that. 

Longer-term figures are more significant because they incorporate the ups and downs over that entire period, and allow us to see which investment managers can consistently deliver superior performance, regardless of changing external conditions. 

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to December 2024

Super fundInvestment optionReturn (per year)
Australian Retirement TrustHigh Growth (ART – Super Savings)9.6%
Cbus SuperHigh Growth9.4%
Equip SuperGrowth Plus9.4%
HESTAHigh Growth9.3%
HostplusGrowth9.3%
Prime SuperManaged Growth9.2%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth9.1%
Aware SuperHigh Growth9%
Vision SuperGrowth9%
Australian Ethical SuperHigh Growth8.9%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Again median figures can provide good context. In the ten-year period to December 2024, High Growth investment options as a category delivered a median return of 8.4%. 

A small difference in performance makes a big difference over time

Although the difference between the top performer and the median may not seem that significant (1.0% per year), the difference builds up over time due to compounding interest.

For example, according to the MoneySmart Superannuation calculator, a 25-year-old with $5,000 in super and earning $50,000 per year, paying 0.8% in fees and achieving 9.4% per year, could potentially retire at 67 with a super balance of approximately $646,994.

All other things being equal, achieving 8.4% instead would mean a super balance of approximately $501,094 – approximately 23% less.

Below you can find the top 10 performing High Growth investment options over 10 years for previous time periods. Click the arrow to see the top 10 for each period.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to June 2024
Super fundInvestment optionReturn (per yr)
Equip SuperGrowth Plus9.40%
Australian Retirement TrustHigh Growth (ART – Super Savings)9.30%
Cbus SuperHigh Growth9.20%
HESTAHigh Growth9.10%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth9.10%
HostplusShares Plus9.10%
Vision SuperGrowth8.90%
Australian Ethical SuperHigh Growth8.90%
Prime SuperManaged Growth8.90%
Aware SuperHigh Growth8.80%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to December 2023
Super fundInvestment optionReturn (per yr)
Australian Ethical SuperHigh Growth9.1%
Australian Retirement TrustGrowth (ART – Super Savings)9%
Cbus SuperHigh Growth8.9%
HostplusShares Plus8.9%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth8.8%
Equip SuperGrowth Plus8.8%
HESTAHigh Growth8.7%
Vision SuperGrowth8.6%
Prime SuperManaged Growth8.6%
Spirit SuperGrowth8.4%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to June 2023
Super fundInvestment optionReturn (% per yr)
EquipGrowth Plus9.9%
CbusHigh Growth9.8%
Australian Ethical SuperHigh Growth9.8%
HostplusShares Plus9.7%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth9.6%
Australian Retirement TrustGrowth (ART – Super Savings)9.5%
HESTAHigh Growth9.5%
Vision SuperGrowth9.4%
PSSapAggressive9.3%
Aware SuperHigh Growth9.3%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to December 2022
Super fundInvestment optionReturn (% per yr)
EquipGrowth Plus10.1%
CbusHigh Growth9.8%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth9.7%
HostplusShares Plus9.7%
Australian Retirement Trust – Super SavingsGrowth9.6%
HESTAHigh Growth9.5%
Aware SuperHigh Growth9.5%
Australian Ethical SuperHigh Growth9.5%
PSSapAggressive9.5%
UniSuperGrowth9.3%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to June 2022
Super fundInvestment optionReturn (% per yr)
EquipGrowth Plus10.8%
CbusHigh Growth10.5%
VicSuperEquity Growth10.5%
HostplusShares Plus10.3%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth10.3%
Aware SuperHigh Growth10.2%
HESTAHigh Growth10.0%
Australian Retirement TrustGrowth (Super Savings)9.9%
PSSapAggressive9.9%
RestHigh Growth9.8%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to December 2021
Super fundInvestment optionReturn (% per yr)
EquipGrowth Plus12.6%
Cbus SuperHigh Growth12.2%
Aware SuperEquity Growth (VicSuper)12.1%
UniSuperGrowth11.9%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth11.9%
Aware SuperHigh Growth11.8%
LegalsuperGrowth11.8%
IOOFMultiMix Growth11.7%
HESTAHigh Growth11.4%
PSSapAggressive11.3%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to June 2021
Super fundInvestment optionReturn (% per yr)
CbusHigh Growth11.0%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth10.7%
HostplusShares Plus10.7%
UniSuperGrowth10.7%
Aware SuperHigh Growth10.6%
PSSapAggressive10.3%
Prime SuperManaged Growth10.3%
Legal SuperHigh Growth10.2%
HESTAHigh Growth10.2%
Vision SuperGrowth10.2%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to December 2020
Super fundInvestment optionReturn (% per yr)
CbusHigh Growth10.0%
Aware SuperHigh Growth9.8%
UniSuperGrowth9.7%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth9.7%
HostplusShares Plus9.6%
QSuperAggressive9.4%
Catholic SuperAggressive9.3%
CareSuperGrowth9.2%
BUSSQHigh Growth9.2%
PSSapAggressive9.2%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 10 years to June 2020
Super fundInvestment optionReturn (% per yr)
QSuperAggressive9.7%
First State SuperHigh Growth9.6%
CbusHigh Growth9.4%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth9.4%
UniSuperGrowth9.3%
HostplusShares Plus9.3%
Catholic SuperAggressive9.3%
BUSSQHigh Growth9.2%
CareSuperGrowth9.0%
Legal SuperHigh Growth9.0%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to December 2024

Super is best viewed as a marathon not a sprint. That said, even those members a long way from retirement should keep a watchful eye on their fund’s ongoing performance to ensure it still meets their objectives and compares favourably with other funds that share a similar risk profile.

The following table shows the top 10 funds over the 12 months to December 2024.

Super fundInvestment optionReturn (per year)
Vanguard SuperHigh Growth16.3%
REI SuperGrowth15.7%
Team SuperHigh Growth15.6%
Australian Ethical SuperHigh Growth15.6%
TelstraSuperHigh Growth15.4%
SmartMondayGrowth15.1%
AMP Super FundFuture Directions Growth14.9%
Equip SuperGrowth Plus14.8%
LegalsuperGrowth14.7%
Prime SuperManaged Growth14.6%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

The median 1 year return for High Growth investment options to 30 December 2024 was 10.7%.

Median returns track the mid-point of all contenders in any one category and are a good way to add context to what you’re looking at. That is, half of all funds in that category performed better than the median and half performed worse. Once you know how your fund performed, check it against the median return for your risk category to see if it finished in the top or bottom half of the field. You can see the median returns of all risk categories over a broad range of timeframes here.

Below you can find the top 10 performing High Growth investment options over 1 year for previous time periods. Click the arrow to see the top 10 for each period, or continue reading to discover the top 10 performing High Growth investment options over 10 years.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to June 2024
Super fundInvestment optionReturn
Mine Superannuation FundHigh Growth12.50%
Equip SuperGrowth Plus12.10%
Brighter SuperGrowth11.90%
HESTAHigh Growth11.90%
Prime SuperManaged Growth11.90%
Australian Retirement TrustHigh Growth (ART – Super Savings)11.30%
GuildSuperGrowth11.20%
Equip SuperGrowth11.10%
REST SuperHigh Growth11.10%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to December 2023
Super fundInvestment optionReturn
Brighter SuperMulti-Manager High Growth Fund14.8%
Prime SuperManaged Growth13.7%
Mine Superannuation FundHigh Growth13.6%
Australian Ethical SuperHigh Growth13.4%
Vision SuperGrowth13.1%
HESTAHigh Growth13.1%
Equip SuperGrowth Plus13%
Cbus SuperHigh Growth12.7%
GuildSuperGrowth12.7%
Aware SuperHigh Growth12.3%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to June 2023
Super fundInvestment optionReturn
Brighter SuperOptimiser Multi-Manager High Growth14.7%
EquipGrowth Plus14.0%
Mine SuperHigh Growth13.9%
Australian Ethical SuperHigh Growth13.9%
Vision SuperGrowth13.3%
Catholic SuperGrowth Plus13.0%
Brighter SuperGrowth12.6%
HESTAHigh Growth12.6%
CbusHigh Growth12.6%
UniSuperGrowth12.5%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to December 2022
Super fundInvestment optionReturn
Brighter SuperGrowth-1.9%
Australian Retirement Trust – Super SavingsGrowth-2.0%
CareSuperGrowth-3.2%
RestHigh Growth-3.4%
Qantas SuperAggressive-3.4%
PlumPre-Mixed Assertive-3.8%
MLCAssertive-3.9%
PlumActive – Assertive-4.1%
HESTAHigh Growth-4.2%
PSSapAggressive-4.3%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to June 2022
Super fundInvestment optionReturn
QantasSuper Aggressive0.6%
Australian Retirement TrustGrowth (Super Savings)-0.1%
Christian SuperEthical Growth Plus-0.1%
Energy SuperGrowth-1.3%
Legal SuperGrowth-1.5%
LGIAsuperAggressive-2.0%
HESTAHigh Growth-2.0%
Australian Catholic Super & RetirementGrowth-2.1%
RestHigh Growth-2.1%
Active SuperHigh Growth-2.3%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to December 2021
Super fundInvestment optionReturn
Australian Retirement TrustGrowth20.5%
HESTAHigh Growth19.2%
SuncorpMulti-Manager High Growth18.9%
Retirement WrapActive High Growth18.8%
Retirement WrapActive Growth18.8%
TelstraSuperGrowth18.6%
Aware SuperEquity Growth (VicSuper)18.5%
LegalsuperGrowth18.4%
MLC Super FundHorizon 518.3%
PSSapAggressive18.3%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to June 2021
Super fundInvestment optionReturn
Retirement WrapActive High Growth26.2%
HostplusShares Plus26%
Cbus SuperHigh Growth26%
EISSHigh Growth25.8%
SunsuperGrowth25.4%
HESTAHigh Growth24.9%
MLC Super FundHorizon 524.8%
TelstraSuperGrowth24.7%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth24.4%
Retirement WrapActive Growth24.1%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to December 2020
Super fundInvestment optionReturn
SuncorpMulti-Manager High Growth9.8%
UniSuperGrowth7.4%
Vision SuperGrowth7.1%
CbusHigh Growth6.8%
Aware SuperHigh Growth6.8%
PSSapAggressive6.8%
Australian Ethical SuperGrowth6.6%
AustralianSuperHigh Growth6.6%
EquipGrowth6.4%
HostplusShares Plus6.2%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

Top 10 High Growth investment options (super funds): 1 year to June 2020
Super fundInvestment optionReturn
SuncorpMulti-Manager High Growth3.4%
BUSSQHigh Growth2.7%
PSSapAggressive1.9%
EquipGrowth1.8%
UniSuperGrowth1.6%
Vision SuperGrowth1.6%
IOOFMultiMix Growth1.4%
First State SuperHigh Growth1.4%
HostplusShares Plus0.7%
Australian Ethical SuperGrowth0.7%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to High Growth options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.

© Zenith CW Pty Ltd ABN 20 639 121 403 (Chant West), Authorised Representative of Zenith Investment Partners Pty Ltd ABN 27 103 132 672, AFSL 226872 under AFS Representative Number 1280401 2020.

The data provided by Chant West is based on information supplied by third parties and does not contain all the information required to evaluate the nominated service providers, you are responsible for obtaining further information as required. The data provided by Chant West does not constitute financial product advice. However, to the extent that this data is advice it is General Advice (s766B Corporations Act) and Chant West has not taken into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any specific person who may access or use this data. It is not a specific recommendation to purchase, sell or hold any product(s) and is subject to change at any time without prior notice. Individuals should consider the appropriateness of any advice in light of their own objectives, financial situations or needs and should obtain a copy of and consider any relevant PDS or offer document before making any decision. Data is provided in good faith and is believed to be accurate, however, no representation, warranty or undertaking in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the data is provided. Data provided is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced, modified or distributed without the consent of the copyright owner. Except for any liability which can not be excluded, Chant West does not accept any liability whether direct or indirect, arising from use of this data. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. Full details regarding Chant West’s research methodology, processes, ratings definitions are available at www.chantwest.com.au and Chant West’s Financial Services Guide is available at www.chantwest.com.au/financial-services-guide.

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IMPORTANT: All information on SuperGuide is general in nature only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether any information on SuperGuide is appropriate to you before acting on it. If SuperGuide refers to a financial product you should obtain the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or seek personal financial advice before making any investment decisions. Comments provided by readers that may include information relating to tax, superannuation or other rules cannot be relied upon as advice. SuperGuide does not verify the information provided within comments from readers. Learn more

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