Morningstar Australian Superannuation Survey results are in

Morningstar today published results of the Morningstar® Australian Superannuation Survey, providing comprehensive coverage of the performance of Australian-offered retirement savings vehicles to 31 March 2015.

The Survey includes both commercial for-profit and industry superannuation options. Morningstar classifies funds according to a proprietary classification system created to facilitate meaningful peer-relative comparisons.

Key Findings

Australian superannuation funds remained in positive territory, the median growth fund returning 0.6 percent in the month of March. Results ranged from 1.1 to 0.0 percent. Results were also positive over the longer term. The medians were 14.4 percent over the year, 13.3 percent over the three years and 9.1 percent over the five years to 31 March 2015.

The best-performing growth superfunds over the year to 31 March were Legg Mason Growth (19.4 percent), BT Active Balanced (18.8 percent), and AMP Balanced Growth (16.9 percent).

The best-performing balanced (40.0 – 60.0 percent growth assets) superfunds over the year to 31 March were BT Balanced Returns (18.2 percent), State Super Balanced (13.4 percent), and AMP Moderate Growth (13.1 percent).

Australian listed property provided the standout performance among asset classes over the year (34.7 percent), followed by global shares (29.1 percent), global listed property (28.0 percent), and Australian shares (13.9 percent).

Multisector growth superfunds’ average allocation to equities at 28 February 2015 was 56.1 percent, 28.4 percent Australian and 27.7 percent global, while the average property exposure was 10.1 percent. Defensive assets totalled 25.2 percent on average (10.2 percent domestic bonds, 7.2 percent international, and 7.8 percent cash). Legg Mason Growth had the highest allocation to Australian shares (46.0 percent), followed by Equip Balanced (45.0 percent), and Legg Mason Balanced (39.5 percent).