Volatile investment markets heavily impacted superannuation funds with the median Balanced Option recording a 2.9 per cent fall in August, the largest monthly loss since February 2009.
“On the back of concerns about China’s growth prospects, falls across major stock markets have made August one of the toughest months for superannuation funds since the Global Financial Crisis” SuperRatings founder Jeff Bresnahan said.
Global markets were also highly volatile in August, with the benchmark MSCI World Ex-Australia Net TR Index falling 6.5 per cent. While a 2.0 per cent fall in the Australian Dollar against the US Dollar helped offset some of these losses, returns on International Shares remained in the red.
“While Balanced funds experienced losses in August, once again, the benefits of diversification across asset classes within these portfolios was evident, with the declines well below those experienced across most major growth asset classes” Mr Bresnahan said.
Median super fund Balanced Option returns as at 31 August 2015 are outlined below:
| Period | Accumulation Returns |
| The Month of July 2015 | -2.9% |
| Financial Year return to 31 August 2015 | -0.6% |
| Rolling 1 year return to 31 August 2015 | 6.5% |
| Rolling 3 year return to 31 August 2015 | 11.1% p.a. |
| Rolling 5 year return to 31 August 2015 | 8.9% p.a. |
| Rolling 7 year return to 31 August 2015 | 5.7% p.a. |
| Rolling 10 year return to 31 August 2015 | 6.0% p.a. |
