The cost of investing in unlisted assets continues to weigh on industry funds, according to the latest data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). The data shows that the rate of return for industry funds was trailing that of the public sector and retail funds last financial year.
Notwithstanding this relative underperformance, the industry funds represented the fastest growing segment of the industry for the period, while self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) remained the largest segment (although account balances remained below $500,000). The data revealed that total superannuation assets in Australia for the year to 30 June, 2010, increased by 13.9 per cent to $1.23 trillion, with $722.6 billion held by funds regulated by APRA and $390.9 billion held by SMSFs regulated by the Australian Taxation Office.
The fastest growing part of the superannuation industry for the year was the industry fund sector, with assets increasing by 17.9 per cent.
The APRA statistics said that the number of SMSFs grew by 6.5 per cent for the period, while the number of APRA-regulated entities with more than four members decreased by 8 per cent.
The data revealed that members of small funds held the largest average account balance of $478,873, while the lowest account balances were held by members of industry funds at $19,641 — slightly behind members of retail funds with $20,248.
The APRA statistics revealed that the average rate of return for superannuation funds with more than four members was 8.9 per cent, with public sector funds recording 9.8 per cent, retail funds recording 8.7 per cent and industry funds recording 8.5 per cent.
