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.
This information is factual information only, provided by Chant West, and SuperGuide doesn’t warrant the accuracy of Chant West’s information. 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 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.
As the retirement phase in our superannuation system becomes increasingly important, we are bringing you monthly pension fund returns in addition to our monthly super fund performance update.
Thanks to Chant West, we are providing returns for their five diversified pension fund categories – Conservative, Balanced, Growth, High Growth and All Growth. These are the same categories Chant West uses for accumulation funds and generally hold the same underlying investments. This means pension fund returns are driven by the same factors as accumulation fund returns.
See also: Monthly super returns and annual pension performance.
After delivering a stellar 11.5% return for the 2024–25 financial year, pension funds have continued their positive momentum, with the median Growth fund (61–80% in growth assets) up 1.3% in October.
This takes the return for the first four months of the financial year to a remarkable 5.4% and returns for the calendar year to date into double digits, at 10%. Even the median conservative option was up 6.9% in the calendar year to October, while brave-hearted souls in an All Growth option were sitting on a 13.4% gain over the same period.
International shares were the main driver of returns in October, buoyed by easing trade tensions, strong corporate earnings and optimism around AI (artificial intelligence). Developed international markets rose 2.6% hedged and 3.3% unhedged, while emerging markets did even better, returning 5.5%.
Australian shares lagged, up just 0.4% in October, while Australian and international bonds were positive, up 0.4% and 0.7% respectively.
However, markets have pulled back in the opening weeks of November on concerns about stretched valuations, particularly in the US tech sector.
Despite this, most retirees will have seen their pension account balance grow in 2025 even after withdrawing their minimum pension payments.
The table below shows median pension fund performance across various timeframes for five investment categories to the end of October 2025.
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