SuperGuide

Superannuation and retirement planning information

Choosing an investment option (Investment choice)

Investment choice (or member investment choice) is a feature offered by most superannuation funds. Investment choice allows a super fund member to have a say over where his or her super fund invests his or her super money.

As a member of a super fund, you generally can choose from a selection of investment portfolios, such as balanced option, growth option, conservative option or cash option. Some super funds give you the option to invest in specific asset class options, such as a property option or Australian shares option (for a rundown on super investing, see SuperGuide article Superannuation investing: how does it all work?).

A balanced investment option can potentially have more than half of a fund’s assets in shares and the rest in property, fixed interest and cash. A balanced option often has a similar meaning as a growth option, but in some instances can be more conservative than growth. You need to check the underlying assets rather than rely on terminology.

Depending on the asset allocation, a growth investment option can sometimes be called the balanced investment option. True growth options generally have from 80% to 100% of assets in growth-style assets such as shares and property. A balanced option generally has from 60% to 80% in growth-style assets (for more information, see SuperGuide article Superannuation investment: What is the difference between a balanced and growth option?).

A conservative investment option is ordinarily, a low-risk investment option – a significant portion of the investments are placed in cash and fixed interest investments.

The default investment option is the option a fund chooses for those members who fail to choose an investment option. The default option is usually based on the age and risk profile of the average member of a super fund. The default investment option is invariably a balanced/growth investment option.

If you wish to switch investment options within your super fund, you need to complete a special form (see SuperGuide article Super control: How to switch your super account’s investment option).

Note: Investment choice is different to fund choice. If you want to choose or change super funds, refer to the special SuperGuide section Choosing a super fund (fund choice).

For more specific information about choosing investment options, refer to the SuperGuide links immediately below:

Set out below are all SuperGuide articles that relate to Choosing an investment option (Investment choice).

Super and pension funds with the lowest fees

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In the recent Productivity Commission (PC) review of superannuation, the high fees paid by too many super members became a principal focus for the report. A key issue identified by the PC was that “balances are eroded by fees and insurance”, and the PC also claimed that fees were “the biggest drain on net ... Read more

How to review your super fund

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Is your super fund a star performer or a lemon? It’s a question more Australians are asking after the Productivity Commission and the Hayne Royal Commission highlighted widespread overcharging and underperforming across the superannuation system. It often starts with niggling doubts. Fees that are above the industry ... Read more

Super funds return 0.8% for 2018 calendar year

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Note: This article provides comprehensive investment performance data for the 2018 calendar year (1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018), and for the previous 8 calendar years. You can discover the performance results for the most popular superannuation fund investment option (Growth: 61-80% in growth assets), and ... Read more