• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SuperGuide

Superannuation and retirement planning information

  • SuperGuide Premium
  • Account
  • Log In
  • SuperGuide Premium
  • Account
  • Log In
  • How super works
    • Super for beginners
    • Super rules
    • Employers guide to super
    • Super contributions
    • Super and tax
    • Accessing super
    • Super news
    • Women and super
    • Super tips and strategies
    • How-to guides
    • Super quizzes
    • Superannuation Q&As
    • Superannuation glossary
  • Super funds
    • Best performing super funds
    • Super fund rankings
    • Best performing pension funds
    • Pension fund rankings
    • Super fund average returns
    • Super investing strategies
    • Comparing super funds
    • Choosing a super fund
    • Choosing an investment option
    • Super fund fees
    • Insurance and super
    • Super fund profiles
  • SMSFs
    • SMSFs for beginners
    • SMSF administration
    • SMSF checklists
    • SMSF compliance
    • SMSF investing
    • SMSF pensions
    • SMSF strategies
    • SMSF Q&As
  • Plan your retirement
    • Retirement planning for beginners
    • When should I retire?
    • How long will I live?
    • How much super do I need?
    • Will I get the Age Pension?
    • How much will I spend in retirement?
    • Financial advice
    • Retiring overseas
    • Preparing for retirement
    • Retirement planning strategies
    • Retirement calculators and reckoners
  • In retirement
    • Income in retirement
    • Super lump sums
    • Super pensions
    • Age Pension
    • Working in retirement
    • Life in retirement
    • Senior concessions and services
    • Aged care
    • Estate planning
    • Super death benefits

Home / SMSFs / SMSF investing / The importance of asset allocation

The importance of asset allocation

February 10, 2021 by Penny Pryor Leave a Comment

Reading time: 3 minutes

On this page

  • What is asset allocation?
  • The difference between asset allocation and diversification
  • How to create the right asset allocation for you in 5 easy steps
  • The bottom line

There is a lot of research around how much asset allocation decisions contribute to overall investment returns. Some studies say it could be as high as 90%, whereas others suggest it might contribute 70%.

Either way, it is a significant factor that retirees need to consider when putting together their investment strategy.

What is asset allocation?

Asset allocation is how you allocate your investments across a range of different assets. If you had $100 and split that evenly between assets A, B, C and D, your asset allocation would look like this.

Asset A25%
Asset B25%
Asset C25%
Asset D25%

For most investors and retirees, the asset classes they invest in will include equities, property, fixed income and cash, infrastructure and alternatives such as hedge funds and private equity.

Different asset classes have different risk and return properties and will usually be classified as either growth or defensive.

  • Growth assets are higher risk with higher returns that may be volatile in the short-term.
  • Defensive assets are lower risk with steady, lower returns

Equities, property, infrastructure and alternative assets (like private equity) are usually considered growth assets, while fixed income and cash are considered defensive.


Advertisement
SuperGuide Premium is ad-free

The difference between asset allocation and diversification

Asset allocation is where you put your investments, while diversification is how you spread your money across the investments available to you.

By diversifying across a number of non-correlated assets you are able to reduce the volatility of your portfolio. For example, shares and investment-grade bonds are generally un-correlated and a correction in the equity market will (usually) not impact the fixed income market. Therefore, if your portfolio was invested across equities and fixed income (along with other assets) your fixed income investment could compensate for some of the loss in your equity investment during a sharemarket fall.

This practice of considering diversification in portfolio construction is called Modern Portfolio Theory.


Modern Portfolio Theory

The decisions that most investment managers and superannuation funds today make on asset allocation are based on a theory developed over 50 years ago by Nobel-prize winning economist Harry Markowitz, called Modern Portfolio Theory.

He published a paper in the Journal of Finance in 1952 called Portfolio Selection (you can read it yourself here). That paper provided mathematical proof for his theory that you need to consider the risk/reward outcomes of all investments combined in a portfolio rather than that of an investment in isolation.

His model shows how combining assets in a portfolio can achieve the most return for the least risk.


The importance of rebalancing

All SMSF trustees are required to have an investment strategy that states their intended asset allocation. But even if you don’t have an SMSF, it’s a good idea to create an investment strategy for any investment portfolio that lays out what percentage you intend to invest in each asset class. An investment strategy is important as it keeps you on track.


Example asset allocation

  • Equities 0–70%
    • Australian 0–60%
    • Global 0–20%
  • Cash or fixed income 0–20%
  • Property 10%
    • Listed property trusts 5%
    • Unlisted property trusts 5%
  • Alternatives 0–5%

For more information see SuperGuide article How to create an investment strategy.

You will also need to rebalance your investments from time to time to bring them in line with your stated asset allocation objectives. Often if a particular investment or asset class rises or falls in value, the proportion it represents in your portfolio will change.

Compare super funds

Read more...

Advertisement

If the equity portion of your portfolio has risen in value, for example, it may take up a much larger allocation of your overall investments than it was intended to. You may therefore need to sell down some shares and buy some bonds to rebalance your portfolio. It’s important to review your portfolio and rebalance at least once a year if necessary.

How to create the right asset allocation for you in 5 easy steps

Step 1: Before you start considering your asset allocation you need to have some understanding of your risk profile. If you’re unsure of your appetite for risk, our risk profile quiz could help. It’s a very simple survey but it should give you some idea of where you sit on the risk spectrum.

Step 2: Your risk comfort level will help you understand how much you should invest in growth assets, such as shares, and how much in defensive assets, like cash and fixed income. The allocation used by many large superannuation funds as their ‘balanced’ and default investment option includes a 70% allocation to growth assets and a 30% allocation to defensive assets.

Here is a typical split between assets for a large super fund’s balanced option.

Growth

Australian Shares33%
International Shares27%
Property5%
Infrastructure & Private Equity5%

Defensive

Advertisement
Cash & Fixed Interest30%

Step 3: You also need to consider your life stage. If you are already retired, then you will need to focus your investment strategy on assets that provide income. If you are still in accumulation phase and some way off retirement, you will be able to invest more in growth assets because you have time to ride out the ups and downs of market cycles.

Step 4: Consider the time you have available to research potential investments and whether or not you will be able to comprehensively research individual companies. There are investments, such as exchange traded funds (ETFs), that can take care of some of the legwork for you.

ETFs like the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF and the SPDR S&P/ASX 200 Fund will give you access to the ASX/S&P 200 without having to invest in every single one of the top 200 companies’ shares. Similarly, there are global ETFs listed on our local exchange that provide access to some of the biggest international companies in Europe, US and Asia.

Step 5: Finally, if you don’t have an SMSF and are required to have an investment strategy with your stated asset allocation, it is still a good idea to document your asset allocation and your reasons for it. It helps keep you accountable when tempting ‘sure-thing’ investments come up and also reminds you to rebalance on a regular basis.


Need to know: ATO focuses on SMSF diversification

Peter Burgess is deputy CEO and director of policy and education at the SMSF Association. He says diversification is a real focus area for the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) ever since it conducted a mailout to over 17,000 SMSF trustees who the regulator had cause to believe had 90% or more of their fund invested in just one asset.

“The letter was a reminder for trustees to consider diversification and concentration risk,” Burgess says.

“As a result of that we’re seeing auditors paying a lot closer attention to investment strategies and making sure they meet the legislative requirements. One of those requirements is that trustees have properly considered diversification.”

It doesn’t mean that trustees will be fined for lack of diversification, but they do need to be able to demonstrate how they have considered diversification and how they believe they can still achieve the investment objectives of the fund with concentrated assets.


The bottom line

If, as studies suggest, asset allocation is one of the most important factors in your portfolio’s performance, you need to sit down and give it the attention it deserves when developing an investment strategy.

Want to learn more about running an SMSF?

Become a SuperGuide Premium member and access expert guides for SMSFs, on topics such as costs, compliance, administration, investment, borrowing and pensions. Discover valuable super and retirement strategies, the most popular shares, managed funds and ETFs for SMSFs, the latest super rates and thresholds, contributions caps and more.

Includes more than 600 articles, how-to guides, checklists, tips, calculators, case studies, quizzes and a monthly newsletter.

Find out more


Learn more about SMSF investment in the following SuperGuide articles:

SMSF investment rules: Collectables and personal use assets

October 15, 2020

What are the SMSF borrowing rules?

August 6, 2020

How to create an SMSF investment strategy (including example documents)

August 6, 2020

How to achieve genuine diversification in an SMSF

August 3, 2020

How do SMSF retirees invest?

March 14, 2020

10 steps to buying a commercial property and leasing it to your SMSF

February 12, 2020

What on earth is an in-specie transfer?

January 15, 2020

How to invest in infrastructure through an SMSF

October 1, 2019

ETFs: How do I use them and what do they cost?

June 19, 2019

SMSF guide to hedging

May 1, 2019

SMSFs and property: A Super Guide

April 5, 2019

The definitive SMSF guide to franked dividends

April 2, 2019

SMSF investment rules: What every trustee should know

February 15, 2019

Related topics

SMSF investing SMSFs

IMPORTANT: 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. Comments provided by readers that may include information relating to tax, superannuation or other rules cannot be relied upon as advice. SuperGuide does not verify the information provided within comments from readers. Learn more

© Copyright SuperGuide 2009-21. Copyright for this article belongs to SuperGuide Pty Ltd, and cannot be reproduced without express and specific consent. Learn more

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

How super works
Super for beginners
Super rules
Employers guide to super
Super contributions
Super and tax
Accessing super
Super news
Women and super
Super tips and strategies
How-to guides
Super quizzes
Superannuation Q&As
Superannuation glossary
Super funds
Best performing super funds
Super fund rankings
Best performing pension funds
Pension fund rankings
Super fund average returns
Super investing strategies
Comparing super funds
Choosing a super fund
Choosing an investment option
Super fund fees
Insurance and super
Super fund profiles
SMSFs
SMSFs for beginners
SMSF administration
SMSF checklists
SMSF compliance
SMSF investing
SMSF pensions
SMSF strategies
SMSF Q&As
Plan your retirement
Retirement planning for beginners
When should I retire?
How long will I live?
How much super do I need?
Will I get the Age Pension?
How much will I spend in retirement?
Financial advice
Retiring overseas
Preparing for retirement
Retirement planning strategies
Retirement calculators and reckoners
In retirement
Income in retirement
Super lump sums
Super pensions
Age Pension
Working in retirement
Life in retirement
Senior concessions and services
Aged care
Estate planning
Super death benefits
Advertisement
Compare super funds

Footer

Important: Disclaimer

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.

Learn more

About SuperGuide

SuperGuide is Australia’s leading superannuation and retirement planning website. Learn more

Superguide Pty Ltd ATF Superguide Unit Trust as a Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR) is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Independent Financial Advisers Australia, AFSL 464629

  • Contact us
  • Advertise on SuperGuide
  • Careers

Before using this website

  • New to SuperGuide?
  • Terms and Conditions of Use
  • Financial Services Guide
  • Privacy Policy and Privacy Collection
  • Copyright Policy
  • Editorial Policy and Complaints
  • Disclaimer

  • SuperGuide Premium
  • Subscriber feedback
  • Sitemap