Best performing super funds: Growth category (61–80%)

In this article you can discover the top 10 performing Growth super funds over one year and ten 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 Growth investment option?

Investment options with a 61–80% allocation to growth assets such as shares and property are called Growth funds by Chant West, a research company that has been analysing super fund performance for more than 20 years.

Growth investment options may appeal to people who want the high return opportunities of growth assets with the diversification provided by the inclusion of some defensive assets.

How does a Growth investment option behave?

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

In the long run, a Growth investment option will generally return more than a Balanced investment option but not as much a High Growth investment option.

As you can see in the table below, different funds use different labels, with some that call themselves Balanced categorised as Growth options by Chant West. For this reason, it’s always important to look at the asset allocation breakdown beneath the label so you can compare like with like.

Playing the long game

It’s important to keep an eye on how your super is performing year to year (and interesting to see how it compares to other funds) but super is a long-term investment. For that reason, 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 consistently deliver superior performance, regardless of market conditions. 

While the top 10 funds over one year tend to change from year to year, over 10 years the same names crop up. The table below shows the top 10 performing Growth options over 10 years. All but two of the top 10 also made the list the previous year.

As you can see, Hostplus held onto its top ranking despite once again not making it into the top 10 over the past 12 months. Australian Retirement Trust switched places with AustralianSuper to take out second place over 10 years but neither funds makes it into the top 10 over one year.

The top 10 Growth funds returned 7.5% or more per year on an annualised basis over the past 10 years, while the top two returned 8.4% and 8.3% respectively. This is a remarkable achievement given their typical long-term objective of beating inflation by 3.5%, which translates to 6.2% per year with long-term inflation averaging 2.7% per year.

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

Super fund	Investment option	Return (per year)
Hostplus	Balanced	8.4%
Australian Retirement Trust	Balanced (ART – Super Savings)	8.3%
AustralianSuper	Balanced	8.1%
UniSuper	Balanced	7.9%
Cbus Super	Growth (MySuper)	7.8%
Vision Super	Balanced Growth	7.8%
Aware Super	Balanced	7.7%
HESTA	Balanced Growth	7.7%
CareSuper	Balanced (MySuper)	7.6%
Legalsuper	MySuper Balanced	7.5%

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

Median figures can provide useful context. In the 10-year period to December 2024, Growth investment options as a category delivered a median return of 7.2% per year.

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 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, and achieving 8.4% per year, could potentially retire at 67 with a super balance of approximately $641,407.

All other things being equal, achieving 7.2% instead would mean a super balance of approximately $472,197 – approximately 26% less.

Top 10 Growth investment options: 10-year returns for previous years

Below you can find the top 10 performing Growth investment options over 10 and 15 years for previous time periods. Click the arrow to see each the top 10 for each period or read on to discover the top 10 funds over the year to December 31.

Returns over one year highlight recent volatility

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. After another year of high market volatility, only four of the top 10 appeared in the previous year’s list. For those that did make the honour roll, returns were spectacular and ranged from 14.7% for the top-ranked UniSuper to 12.1% for Brighter Super at number 10.

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

Super fund	Investment option	Return (per year)
UniSuper	Growth	14.7%
Colonial First State FirstChoice	CFS Growth	13.6%
Team Super	Growth	13.4%
Vanguard Super	Growth	12.9%
SmartMonday	Balanced Growth	12.8%
Mercer Super	Mercer Growth	12.7%
Aware Super	Balanced	12.4%
Legalsuper	MySuper Balanced	12.4%
AMP Super Fund	Future Directions Balanced	12.2%
Brighter Super	Balanced	12.1%

Source: Chant West. The top 10 is limited to 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 Growth investment options to 31 December 2024 was 11.4%.

Top 10 Growth investment options: 1 year returns for previous years

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