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| Warren Chant |
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its fund-level performance data to December 2009, reinforcing the degree to which fund returns were hit by the global financial crisis, but failing to reflect the strong recovery that occurred after June 30.
The APRA data revealed one year, three year and five-year returns, with the latest data applying to the 12 months ending June 30, last year, therefore clearly portraying the negativity generated by the global financial crisis and its impact on both 2008 and 2009 financial year returns.
The data revealed that while some funds were as much as 5.1 per cent in the black at June 30, last year, most remained heavily in the red, with the worst performing fund being more than 23 per cent in negative territory.
Despite the broadly negative one-year returns, the APRA data confirmed the value of superannuation as an investment, with the average five-year return being close to 3 per cent, albeit that the three-year return as measured between 2007 and 2009 was dragged into negative territory.
More recent fund performance data has revealed super returns closing in on double digits over the closing months of 2009 before easing off in the first quarter of 2010. That data also showed that retail master trusts had outperformed industry funds on the back of the rapid recovery in equity markets.
Despite this, the Industry Super Network yesterday pointed to the APRA data as confirming industry fund outperformance.
Chant West principal Warren Chant said the data was of limited relevance because it had picked up little of the recovery experienced in the back half of 2009, with the APRA methodology making the return data for retail funds virtually meaningless.
