SuperRatings: Stock market falls hurt super fund returns

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.

 

 

READ FULL RELEASE

Source: SuperRatings

Leave a Comment

Gap between retirement leaders and laggards has grown: ASIC

Gap between retirement leaders and laggards has grown: ASIC

A year after regulators put super funds on notice about the unacceptable gap between the best and the worst of responses to the Retirement Income Covenant, the situation has become even worse. The Retirement Leaders Summit in Canberra heard that the leading funds treat retirement as a core business, while the laggards still see it as a compliance exercise.

Sort content by