As the largely retail members of the Australian financial services industry convene on the Gold Coast today for the annual Financial Services Council conference, some reasoned perspective should perhaps be given to the relative balance of wealth held privately by Australians.
In strategic terms Australia’s wealth management and superannuation sectors are a significant and vital part of the broader economy. Yet, in real terms, the dollar value of superannuation assets is in fact challenged quite starkly by the importance of residential property in Australians wealth.
The underlying statistics present both a challenge and potential opportunity for FSC delegates to visualise over the next two days.
As at 30 June 2014, the superannuation market was worth $1,839 billion while the private investment market (assets outside superannuation excluding the family home) was worth $2,490 billion.
Almost half (48%) of this amount ($1,188 billion) was represented by directly held property net of debt. Directly held property investments alone are equivalent to approximately 65% of superannuation assets.
Source: Rice Warner
