Hostplus best performing super fund two years in a row
Hostplus finished the year up 12.5%, ahead of the median growth fund returning a strong 9.2%.
Hostplus finished the year up 12.5%, ahead of the median growth fund returning a strong 9.2%.It's been a great decade for super fund performance. The latest performance figures released by leading superannuation research firm Chant West reveal it has now been nine years in a row that growth super funds have performed positively, with the median growth fund returning 9.2% over the past 12 months.
Most Australians have their super invested in growth funds, and analysts from Chant West say these funds have a performance target of roughly 5.5%. With a median return of 9.2% over the past year, they've far out-performed inflation levels, and also the fund's own targets.
The top performing growth fund was Hostplus Balanced for the second year running, which returned an impressive 12.5% over the year. This was followed by AustSafe MySuper Balanced (11.4%), Statewide Super MySuper (11.3%) and AustralianSuper Balanced (11.1%).
This year's list of the 10 best performers were all not-for-profit funds, as seen in the table below.
Growth super funds, as the name suggests, invest heavily in growth assets like equities and property. Chant West senior investment manager Mano Mohankumar says we can thank the great performance of equities over the past year for the positive super fund performance.
"Share markets have been remarkably resilient despite fears about a potential US-China trade war, political tension between North Korea and the US and continuing uncertainty about the pace and timing of interest rate increases. International shares rose 10.8% over the year in hedged terms and 15.4% unhedged, while Australian shares also had an excellent year, gaining 13.2%," he said.
“While shares are still the main drivers of performance, major super funds are well diversified across a wide range of other sectors including unlisted assets. The better performing funds in 2017/18 were those that had higher allocations to listed shares and to unlisted assets – property, infrastructure and private equity. A lower exposure to traditional bonds and cash also greatly helped, given they were the worst performing sectors.”
The beginning of the financial year is a great time to get your super sorted. Read our guide on how to find any lost super you may have, and compare super funds here.
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