SuperGuide

Simple 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 referring to Choosing an investment option (Investment choice).

Super fees: Top 10 cheapest funds in Australia

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Note: In this article you can find the cheapest super funds and the cheapest super pension funds. The fees listed relate to the balanced investment option of the particular public offer super fund. Balanced option is defined as having 60 to 76% of investments in growth assets, which means some super funds may describe ... Read more

Cheap financial advice available from super funds

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Superannuation funds have been providing cheap (and in some cases, free) personal financial advice to super fund members with the blessing of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), since 2009. In early July 2009, ASIC announced that it’s okay to provide personal financial advice over the phone, ... Read more

Superannuation investing: How does it all work?

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One of the key advantages of superannuation is also seen as one of its key disadvantages. Many people complain that they can’t access their superannuation until they retire, but this rule also means that your super account’s investment earnings are reinvested regularly for a long time. Keeping your investment earnings ... Read more

SuperGuide checklist: 10 more ways to boost your super

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Note: This is the second article in a special two-part series that SuperGuide updates regularly, designed to help SuperGuide readers plan for retirement. This article, and the first article in the series, Super checklist: 10 ways to save your super (link also appears at the end of this article), is accompanied by links ... Read more

SuperGuide checklist: 10 ways to save your super

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With so much change surrounding the super rules which took effect from 1 July 2017, you may be tempted not to focus on your super and retirement plans because of these super changes – in particular, a cut in the contributions caps for both after-tax contributions, and before-tax contributions, and a new limit on super ... Read more

Super for beginners: Top 10 must-know facts

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Just over nine years ago, in January 2009, we launched the SuperGuide website, and in March 2009 we published the first monthly SuperGuide newsletter. Since that time we have received thousands of questions, from our millions of visitors, on different aspects of superannuation. We try to represent as many questions as ... Read more

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