Super funds were in the red over the March 2016 quarter with the median growth fund (61 to 80% allocation to growth assets) retreating 1.1%. That means the return over the nine months of the financial year to date is only marginally positive at 0.1%.
Key highlights include:
Although growth funds were down 1.1% over the quarter, things could have been much worse after share markets here and overseas sold off heavily over the first six weeks of 2016. There’s been a strong rebound in markets since then, but the rise in the Australian dollar has meant that growth funds haven’t benefited fully from this rally.
Despite all the share market volatility we’ve seen for some time now, with the median growth return sitting at 0.1% for the first nine months of the financial year, we may end up with a seventh consecutive positive financial year.
Industry funds significantly outperformed retail funds over the March quarter, returning -0.6% versus -1.6%
Source: Chant West
