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Investment performance: Latest super returns (to December 2018)

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Note: For investment returns over 1 month, 3 months, 1 year, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 15 years to 31 December 2018 for 5 main investment options offered by super funds, see Table 1 later in the article. For month-by-month performance data, going back 5 years (60 months), for the 5 main investment options offered by super funds, see Tables 2 to 6 later in the article. If you’re looking for the latest financial year performance figures (and also figures for the 8 previous financial years), see SuperGuide article Super funds gain 9.4% for 2017/2018 financial year, or looking for the latest calendar year performance figures (and previous 7 calendar years), see SuperGuide article Super funds return 10.8% for 2017 calendar year.

The median superannuation growth fund lost 1.1% in value for the month of December 2018, which followed a 0.3% loss in November, and a 3% loss in October, according to superannuation ratings agency, Chant West. The median growth fund had no gain (zero return) in value for the month of September 2018, after gaining 1.0% in August 2018, and after gaining 1.1% in value for July 2018. For the 2017/2018 financial year (1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018), the median superannuation growth fund gained 9.4% in value.

A return for a median fund is simply choosing the return for the fund in the middle of the list of super funds. For an explanation of a growth investment option, a balanced investment option, and a default investment option, and the other main types of investment options see SuperGuide article Superannuation investment: What is the difference between a balanced and growth option?

For the month of December 2018, Australian shares dropped 0.2% in value, while international shares lost a massive 13.3% in value on a hedged basis, and dropped 11.1% in value in unhedged terms (the difference, due to the Australian dollar depreciating from US$0.78 to US$0.70 over that timeframe), according to Chant West. Australian Listed Property (A-REITs) gained 1.7% in value for the month, while Global Listed Property (REITs) lost 5.8% for December 2018.

Note: The majority of international share investments held in super funds are unhedged (70% of all international share investments in super funds, on average). Briefly, when a super fund fully hedges your international investments against movements in the Australian dollar or foreign currency, your investment return is solely based on the merits of the investment rather than the strength or otherwise of the Australian dollar. For more information about hedged and unhedged international shares, see SuperGuide article Revisited: Ban unhedged international shares in default investment options.

See performance table (Table 1) later in the article, for investment returns over 1 month, 3 months, 1 year, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 15 years to 31 December 2018 for 5 main investment options.

Note: Each month, we provide updated monthly investment performance of superannuation funds. For the latest monthly returns for the 5 main types of superannuation investment options (including month-by-month returns for each investment option going back from January 2014, and current to December 2018), see Tables 2 to 6 (All Growth, High Growth, Growth, Balanced and Conservative) later in the article.

Is your super invested in a lifecycle product?

According to Mano Mohankumar, senior investment research manager at Chant West, the Growth fund category Chant West rates encompasses the funds in which most Australians have their superannuation. Previously, he has stated that the Growth fund category includes the MySuper default options for those funds that have opted for a ‘traditional’ diversified growth portfolio as well as a number of non-default options that are available to members who make their own investment choice.

Mohankumar notes however that while the Growth investment option is still where most people have their super, a growing number of super funds are placing fund members who don’t actively choose an investment option, into lifecycle products. He says: “… most retail products have adopted a lifecycle design for their [default MySuper option], where members are allocated to an age-based option that is progressively de-risked as that cohort gets older”.

He says that it is difficult to make direct comparisons of the performance of these age-based options with the traditional options that are based on a single risk category, and for that reason Chant West reports the lifecycle funds separately.

Mohankumar also notes that a few not-for-profits have also gone down the lifecycle path, so that overall about a third of MySuper default money is now in a lifecycle product.

Note: For more information about lifecycle products, in particular investment performance results for such products, and how they compare to the performance of traditional default growth investment options, see SuperGuide article Lifecycle investment options (returns to November 2018).

Quick access to investment performance tables

If you are interested in checking out the tables immediately, rather than reading the rest of the article, for your convenience, click on the relevant link below to access the performance table that interests you.

Tip: Alternatively, compare monthly investment returns from month to month, or over specific timeframes. Using the monthly investment performance data for the 5 different investment options going back nearly 5 years, we have created the SuperGuide Monthly Superannuation Returns Performance Reckoner (for 5 investment options).

Monthly performance summary: December 2018

For the month of December 2018, of the 5 main investment options offered by Australian super funds, all lost in value for the month: All Growth (-2.2%), High Growth (-1.7%), Growth (-1.1%), followed by Balanced (-0.7%) and Conservative (-0.2%). The losses for December 2018 were attributable to listed sharemarkets, Global Listed Property and Global Listed Infrastructure (Hedged).

Based on previous comments made by Warren Chant of Chant West, and updating these comments with reported results since December 2011, growth funds have delivered 60 positive monthly returns out of 84 up to December 2018. The month of December 2018 resulted in a loss in value of 1.1% for the median growth fund.

Table 1 below lists the performance figures for the five main asset allocations for: 1 month, 3 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, 10 years, and 15 years to 31 December 2018. For an explanation of the different investment options see SuperGuide article Superannuation investment: What is the difference between a balanced and growth option?

Top performers to 31 December 2018: Comparing 5 main investment options

Assessing 1-month returns: Over the 1-month period to 31 December 2-18, all main investment options lost value: All Growth (-2.2%) and High Growth (-1.7%), Growth (-1.1%), Balanced (-0.7%) and Conservative (-0.2%).

Return for 12 months to 31 December 2018: For the 12 months to 31 December 2018, the two riskiest investment options lost in value, the three less riskier options gained in value (just). The top performer was Conservative option (1.6%), followed by Balanced (1.0%), and then Growth (0.8%). The High Growth option lost 0.2% in value over the 12 months to December 2018, while the All Growth option lost 1.8% in value. (For information on the latest financial year investment returns, see SuperGuide article Super funds gain 9.4% for 2017/2018 financial year, and for the latest calendar year investment returns, see SuperGuide article Super funds return 10.8% for 2017 calendar year).

Performance over 5 years: The median All Growth option outperformed other investment options over 5 years to 31 December 2018 (7.4%), followed by the High Growth option (7.0%), the Growth option (6.5%), and then the Balanced option (5.4%), and the Conservative option (4.6%).

Performance over 10 years: Over 10 years to 31 December 2018, the All Growth option gained 9.2% in value each year, on average, the High Growth option gained, on average, 8.7% in value each year, with the Growth option gaining 7.9% each year, followed by the Balanced option (6.8%) and the Conservative option (5.8%).

Performance over 15 years: Over the 15-year period to 31 December 2018, the All Growth option gained 7.4% in value each year, and the High Growth option (7.3% pa) were the strongest performing options, and both of these riskier options outperformed the other 3 options —Growth option (7.0% pa), the Balanced option (6.1% pa), and the Conservative option (5.7% pa).

Table 1: Summary performance table for 5 main investment options (to 31 December 2018)

Fund Category Growth Assets (%) 1 mth (%) 3 months (%) 1 Yr

(%)

 3 Yrs (% pa) 5 Yrs (% pa) 7 Yrs (% pa) 10 Yrs (% pa) 15 Yrs (% pa)
All Growth 100 -2.2 -8.4 -1.8 7.2 7.4 10.8 9.2 7.4
High Growth 81 – 100 -1.7 -6.3 -0.2 6.8 7.0 9.8 8.7 7.3
Growth 61 – 80 -1.1 -4.6 0.8 6.2 6.5 8.7 7.9 7.0
Balanced 41 – 60 -0.7 -3.0 1.0 5.0 5.4 7.1 6.8 6.1
Conservative 21 – 40 -0.2 -1.4 1.6 4.2 4.6 5.7 5.8 5.7

Note: Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax. It does not include administration fees or adviser commissions.

Source: Chant West 17 January 2019 media release (www.chantwest.com.au), and subsequent information provided by Chant West.

Tables 2 to 6: Investment performance month-by-month data for 5 main investment options

Set out below is month-by-month performance data for the 5 main investment options (All Growth, High Growth, Growth, Balanced, Conservative), from January 2014 through to 31 December 2018:

Table 2: All Growth (100%) month-by-month performance to 31 December 2018

  2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
January -1.9% 2.5% -4.0% -0.5% 1.0%
February 3.0% 4.9% -1.2% 1.7% -0.4%
March -0.8% 0.7% 2.3% 2.3%  -1.6%
April 0.9% -0.5% 2.0% 2.1% 2.7%
May 1.3% 1.4% 3.3% 0.5% 0.5%
June -0.1% -3.3% -2.2% -0.4% 1.6%
July 1.8% 3.7% 4.1% -0.1% 1.6%
August 1.1% -4.7% 0.3% 0.8% 1.6%
September -0.9% -2.2% -0.2% 1.4% -0.2%
October 1.5% 4.9% -1.3% 3.5% -5.3%
November 1.0% -0.5% 2.2% 1.8% -1.0%
December 1.6% 0.0% 3.2% 0.8% -2.2%

Note: Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax. It does not include administration fees or adviser commissions.

Source: Chant West media releases over at least the past 5 years (www.chantwest.com.au), and subsequent information provided by Chant West.

Table 3: High Growth (81-100%) month-by-month performance to 31 December 2018

  2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
January -1.3% 2.2% -2.9% -0.3% 1.0%
February 2.6% 4.0% -0.7% 1.3% -0.2%
March -0.5% 0.6% 2.1% 1.9%  -1.2%
April 0.9% -0.4% 1.7% 1.8% 2.2%
May 1.2% 1.3% 2.8% 0.5% 0.5%
June 0.1% -2.4% -1.5% 0.0% 1.4%
July 1.5% 2.9% 3.3% 0.0% 1.3%
August 1.0% -3.7% 0.4% 0.7% 1.4%
September -0.7% -1.4% 0.1% 1.2% -0.1%
October 1.4% 4.0% -0.9% 2.8% -4.0%
November 0.9% -0.4% 1.6% 1.5% -0.8%
December 1.2% 0.2% 2.8% 0.7% -0.7%

Note: Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax. It does not include administration fees or adviser commissions.

Source: Chant West media releases over at least the past 5 years (www.chantwest.com.au), and subsequent information provided by Chant West.

Table 4: Growth (61-80%) month-by-month performance to 31 December 2018

  2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
January 0.9% 2.0% -2.3% -0.1% 0.8%
February 2.1% 3.1% -0.4% 1.2% -0.2%
March -0.3% 0.6% 1.8% 1.5%  -0.7%
April 0.8% -0.4% 1.4% 1.5% 1.7%
May 1.1% 1.0% 2.3% 0.5% 0.4%
June 0.2% -2.0% 2.3% 0.5% 1.2%
July 1.2% 2.3% 2.7% 0.0% 1.1%
August 1.0% -2.9% 0.3% 0.6% 1.0%
September -0.6% -1.1% 0.1% 0.9% 0.0%
October 1.2% 3.2% -0.7% 2.3% -3.0%
November 0.8% -0.3% 1.1% 1.3% -0.6%
December 1.2% 0.1% 2.3% 0.7% -1.1%

Note: Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax. It does not include administration fees or adviser commissions.

Source: Chant West media releases over at least the past 5 years (www.chantwest.com.au), and subsequent information provided by Chant West.

Table 5: Balanced (41-60%) month-by-month performance to 31 December 2018

  2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
January -0.4% 1.6% -1.4% 0.0% 0.6%
February 1.5% 2.1% -0.2% 0.9% -0.2%
March -0.2% 0.5% 1.4% 1.2%  -0.5%
April 0.7% -0.3% 1.0% 1.2% 1.2%
May 0.9% 0.7% 1.7% 0.5% 0.3%
June 0.3% -1.4% -0.4% -0.1% 1.0%
July 0.9% 1.8% 2.0% 0.0% 0.8%
August 0.8% -1.9% 0.3% 0.6% 0.8%
September -0.3% -0.8% 0.1% 0.6% 0.2%
October 1.1% 2.2% -0.6% 1.7% -2.0%
November 0.7% -0.2% 0.7% 1.0% -0.3%
December 0.9% 0.1% 1.7% 0.4% -0.7%

Note: Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax. It does not include administration fees or adviser commissions.

Source: Chant West media releases over at least the past 5 years (www.chantwest.com.au), and subsequent information provided by Chant West.

Table 6: Conservative (21-40%) month-by-month performance to 31 December 2018

  2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
January 0.0% 1.2% -0.6% 0.1% 0.4%
February 1.0% 1.3% 0.0% 0.7% 0.0%
March 0.0% 0.4% 0.9% 0.7%  -0.1%
April 0.6% 0.2% 0.7% 0.8% 0.7%
May 0.8% 0.4% 1.1% 0.5% 0.3%
June 0.4% -0.9% 0.2% 0.0% 0.7%
July 0.7% 1.2% 1.3% 0.1% 0.5%
August 0.6% -1.1% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5%
September -0.2% -0.4% 0.1% 0.4% 0.1%
October 0.8% 1.4% -0.4% 1.2% -1.0%
November 0.6% -0.1% 0.2% 0.7% -0.2%
December 0.7% 0.1% 1.1% 0.3% -0.2%

Note: Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax. It does not include administration fees or adviser commissions.

Source: Chant West media releases over at least the past 5 years (www.chantwest.com.au), and subsequent information provided by Chant West.

For more information…

For more information about investment performance for Australian super funds, see the following SuperGuide articles:

For more specific information about investment performance for Australian super funds for the latest financial year, see the following SuperGuide articles:

For more specific information about investment performance for Australian super funds for the latest calendar year, see the following SuperGuide articles:

For more information about comparing the investment performance of Australian super funds, see the following SuperGuide articles:

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