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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 super’s performance.
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.
In this article you can discover the top 10 performing Conservative super funds over 1 year and 10 years. We recommend that you also read our explanatory article Introduction to SuperGuide’s top 10 performing super fund lists which can help you understand how to compare the different risk categories that super investment options sit within.
What is an Conservative investment option?
Investment options with a 21–40% allocation to growth assets are termed Conservative by Chant West, a research company that has been analysing super fund performance for more than 20 years.
Conservative investment options may appeal to people who want a significant portion of their money in defensive assets for greater certainty.
Note: 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 Conservative investment option behave?
In the short term, investment options in the Conservative risk category will generally experience the least volatility of all diversified investment options across all risk categories.
In the long term, a Conservative-style investment option will generally enjoy more certainty but should not be expected to grow as much as investment options in other risk categories with greater exposure to growth assets.
Top 10 Conservative investment options (super funds): 1 year to June 2020
| Super fund | Investment option | Return |
|---|---|---|
| Suncorp | Multi-Manager Conservative | 3.3% |
| Australian Ethical Super | Conservative | 3.1% |
| VISSF | Conservative | 2.7% |
| Cbus | Conservative | 2.5% |
| IOOF | MultiMix Conservative | 2.1% |
| Vision Super | Conservative | 2.0% |
| Equip | Conservative | 2.0% |
| Tasplan | Conservative | 2.0% |
| HESTA | Conservative | 2.0% |
| Mercer | Conservative Growth | 1.9% |
Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to Conservative options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.
2019/20 was a challenging financial year for superannuation and the global economy in general, and the median 1 year return for Conservative investment options across the board was 0.9%. (Median returns track the mid-point of all contenders in any one category and are good way to add context to what you’re looking at. 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 Conservative investment options over 1 year to December 2019. Click the arrow to see the top 10, or continue reading to discover the top 10 performing Conservative investment options over 10 years.
Top 10 Conservative investment options (super funds): 1 year to December 2019
| Super fund | Investment option | Return |
|---|---|---|
| LGIAsuper | Stable | 9.7% |
| Aon smartMonday | Moderate | 9.6% |
| BT | MM Conservative | 9.6% |
| AustralianSuper | Stable | 9.5% |
| OnePath | OptiMix Conservative | 9.2% |
| Aust Catholic Super & Retirement | Conservative | 9.2% |
| Mercer | Conservative Growth | 9.2% |
| Tasplan | Conservative | 9.1% |
| TelstraSuper | Conservative | 9.1% |
| HESTA | Conservative | 9.1% |
Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to Conservative options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.
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 Conservative investment options (super funds): 10 years to June 2020
| Super fund | Investment option | Return (% per yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Catholic Super | Moderately Conservative | 6.6% |
| AustralianSuper | Stable | 6.5% |
| VISSF | Conservative | 6.3% |
| TelstraSuper | Conservative | 6.3% |
| HESTA | Conservative | 6.2% |
| UniSuper | Conservative | 6.0% |
| Vision Super | Conservative | 5.9% |
| CareSuper | Capital Stable | 5.9% |
| Cbus | Conservative | 5.9% |
| Prime Super | Conservative | 5.9% |
Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to Conservative 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 June 2020, Conservative investment options as a category delivered a median return of 5.4%.
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 (1.2% per year), the difference builds up significantly over time due to compounding. We have developed the SuperGuide Super fees and returns calculator to help readers understand the difference the fees they pay and projected returns may make over time.
For example, a 25-year-old with $5,000 in super and earning $50,000 per year, paying 0.8% in fees and achieving 6.6% per year, could retire at 67 with a super balance of approximately $368,922.
All other things being equal, achieving 5.4% instead would mean a super balance of approximately $278,038 – a difference of $90,844, or approximately 25% less.
Below you can find the top 10 performing Conservative investment options over 10 years to December 2019. Click the arrow to see the top 10.
Top 10 Conservative investment options (super funds): 10 years to December 2019
| Super fund | Investment option | Return (% per yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Catholic Super | Moderately Conservative | 6.8% |
| AustralianSuper | Stable | 6.7% |
| TelstraSuper | Conservative | 6.6% |
| Hostplus | Capital Stable | 6.4% |
| HESTA | Conservative | 6.4% |
| NGS | Defensive | 6.4% |
| CareSuper | Capital Stable | 6.3% |
| BUSSQ | Defensive | 6.3% |
| PSSap | Income Focused | 6.3% |
| UniSuper | Conservative | 6.2% |
Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to Conservative options with assets of $1 billion or more. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, and before administration and adviser commissions.