International shares and listed property brought home the bacon this year for superannuation funds, with strong performances from these two asset classes helping to offset a lacklustre year across other markets.
Despite the global economic turmoil, international share markets surged ahead with the median International Shares Option returning of 19.2 per cent for the year to June 2015.
“Australian super funds, earned a bigger boost from overseas shares because the falling Australian Dollar further magnified international earnings,’’ SuperRatings founder Jeff Bresnahan said.
The strongest performing international share markets were in Asia, with Japan up 33.5 per cent and Hong Kong up 13.2 per cent. In contrast the US based S&P500 increased just 5.2 per cent and the UK-based FSE100 was down 3.3 per cent.
Listed property was also a major contributor to strong super returns this year, with the ASX 300 A-REIT Index up 20.2 per cent for the year.
TOP TEN BALANCED FUNDS
Not-for-profit super funds are once again prominent in the top ten funds this year, with the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan (CSC PSSap) taking out the number one spot.
“It was also pleasing to note two small funds made the highest rankings this year, proving that size doesn’t matter when it comes to strong performance,’’ Mr Bresnahan said. Intrust and AustSafe both have assets of less than $5 billion, but produced strong returns.
The table below shows the top 10 performing Balanced Options in the SuperRatings SR50 Balanced (60-76) Index over the year to 30 June 2015.
Source: SuperRatings
