Share market ructions in the face of President Trump’s aggressive trade tariffs and growing fears of a US recession continued to take a toll on super fund returns in March. The median Growth fund (61–80% growth assets) fell 1.9% over the month.
To put that in perspective, the median Growth fund was still up 5.5% for the financial year to the end of March. But market volatility has only escalated since then following Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcements on April 2.
Chant West senior investment research manager Mano Mohankumar reiterated his advice to nervous super fund members to stay the course. “The majority (of members) can afford to remain patient, even older members,” he says.
Retirees who don’t take all their super as a lump sum on retirement but keep substantial amounts in a super pension may have money in the super system for many years, “Their investment horizon is longer than they may think it is,” he says.
Diversification also reduces the impact of volatile share markets, with Growth funds typically holding around 55% of their assets in listed shares. While Australian shares were down 3.3% in March and international shares fell 5% hedged and 4.7% unhedged, the median Growth fund only lost 1.9%.
The table below shows the median performance to the end of March 2025 for the five traditional diversified risk categories.
Super fund performance (results to 31 March 2025)
| Fund category (% growth assets) | 1 mth (%) | 3 mths (%) | FYTD (%) | 1 yr (% per yr) | 3 yrs (% per yr) | 5 yrs (% per yr) | 7 yrs (% per yr) | 10 yrs (% per yr) | 15 yrs (% per yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Growth (96–100%) | -3.3 | -1.8 | 6.9 | 6.2 | 7.1 | 12.0 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 8.6 |
| High Growth (81–95%) | -2.5 | -1.1 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 10.9 | 8.1 | 7.6 | 8.2 |
| Growth (61–80%) | -1.9 | -0.6 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.8 | 8.8 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 7.4 |
| Balanced (41–60%) | -1.4 | -0.1 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 6.9 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 6.3 |
| Conservative (21–40%) | -0.7 | 0.5 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 5.1 |
Source: Chant West. Performance is shown net of investment fees and tax, before administration fees and adviser commissions.
As you can see in the table above, returns for all periods from one to 15 years remain positive. And all risk categories have generally met their typical long-term return objectives, which range from CPI (a measure of inflation) + 1.5% for Conservative funds to CPI + 4.25% for All Growth.
The chart below shows performance of the median Growth fund since the introduction of compulsory super in July 1992. Over that period, the median Growth fund has returned 8% per year. The average annual CPI increase over the same period is 2.6%, giving a real return of 5.4% per year – well above the typical 3.5% long-term target.
Even looking at the past 20 years, which includes three major market downturns – the GFC in 2007–09, COVID in 2020, and the 2022 calendar year marked by high inflation and rising interest rates to combat it – the median Growth fund has returned 7% per year, comfortably ahead of the typical objective.
Growth funds have produced positive returns in 27 of the past 32 calendar years. Mohankumar says the typical risk objective for Growth funds would be no more than six negative returns during that period (there have been just five), so the risk objective has been met as well as the performance objective.
Source: Chant West
