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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 High Growth super funds over 1 year and 10 years. High Growth funds have 81-95% invested in growth assets.
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 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.
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 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.
Top 10 High Growth investment options: 1 year to December 2019
| Super fund | Investment option | Return |
|---|---|---|
| BT | Multi-Manager High Growth | 21.3% |
| UniSuper | Growth | 21.3% |
| Legal Super | High Growth | 20.7% |
| Tasplan | Growth | 20.2% |
| IOOF | MultiMix Growth | 20.1% |
| AustralianSuper | High Growth | 19.8% |
| Cbus | High Growth | 19.6% |
| LGIAsuper | Aggressive | 19.5% |
| Aon smartMonday | Growth | 19.3% |
| EISS | High Growth | 19.2% |
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.
2019 was an exceptionally strong year for superannuation in general, rounding out a 7-year period of recovery and growth since the Global Financial Crisis. All assets posted positive returns in 2019, with all growth assets enjoying particularly strong returns.
The median 1 year return for High Growth investment options across the board was an impressive 17.6%. (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).
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: 10 years to December 2019
| Super fund | Investment option | Return (% per yr) |
|---|---|---|
| QSuper | Aggressive | 9.8% |
| First State Super | High Growth | 9.7% |
| AustralianSuper | High Growth | 9.6% |
| Hostplus | Shares Plus | 9.6% |
| UniSuper | Growth | 9.5% |
| Cbus | High Growth | 9.5% |
| Catholic Super | Aggressive | 9.3% |
| BUSSQ | High Growth | 9.3% |
| CareSuper | Growth | 9.3% |
| Energy Super | Growth | 9.3% |
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.
Again median figures can provide good context. In the ten-year period to December 2019, High Growth investment options as a category delivered a median return of 8.8%.
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 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 9.8% per year, could retire at 67 with a super balance of approximately $944.300.
All other things being equal, achieving 8.8% instead would mean a super balance of approximately $663,230 – a difference of $281,070, or approximately 30% less.