July 2018 INVESTMENT SPECIAL

QSuper and UniSuper share the top spot for 2018/19, returning 9.9%, well ahead of the third placed MediaSuper with 8.8%. Unlike the previous year when industry funds took out all top 10 positions, retail fund IOOF (+8.2%) entered the list at number 7.

The gold medal goes to AustralianSuper, the country’s largest super fund, with an average annual return of 9.8% per year for the last 10 years.

APRA statistics released this week show retail funds have lost nearly $23 billion in value since December 2017, while over the same period industry funds grew by nearly $40 billion. This represents a change in value of assets of -6% for retail funds and +4% for industry funds.

In the reckoners below you can view the median super fund returns for 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 15 years across five different investment options.

SuperGuide’s Asset Sector Performance reckoner allows you to compare the investment performance of various asset classes over the short, medium and long term. The reckoner covers 12 asset classes over 1, 3 and 5 years and, where available, also over 7, 10 and 15 years.

Understanding your super balance and comparing the performance of your super fund with other funds involves more than just checking fees, super contributions and insurance premiums. It’s also knowing how – and when – your super fund calculates and applies investment earnings to the balance of your super account.

The investment assets of many super funds are far from transparent – both publicly and for fund members. It’s a situation the government has tried to remedy over a number of years, but from 31 December 2020 all that’s changing.

Besides being a great way to save for retirement, Australia’s super system offers some valuable – but little-known – benefits for super fund members. Here’s our list of the top 10 super benefits and how they can help improve your financial situation.

When it comes to delivering a good investment return to their fund members, super funds mix a variety of investment assets and structures together. To understand what your super fund is doing on your behalf, it’s worth learning a little more about these investments – particularly whether they are listed or unlisted.

With more and more retirees being forced to dip into their retirement capital to meet the rising costs of everyday expenses, it’s more important than ever to understand how to protect your retirement income.

Buy/sell spread fees are something we’re all likely to see a lot more of thanks to ASIC’s new disclosure rules for annual fund member statements. So just what are these mysterious charges and how do they work?

If you’re unhappy with how your super savings have grown, it’s worth considering whether you’re in the right investment option in your super fund. To help you work through the process of making an investment option switch, check out our simple explainer.

If you think all the hard work of creating a retirement income is over once you retire, unfortunately you’re mistaken. There are still lots of decisions to make – a key one being how you are going to invest your hard-earned super savings. To help you navigate the range of super pension products, we have created a simple guide to the main investment options.