Corporate and industry funds have led their retail counterparts over the long term for whole-of-fund rates of return (ROR), according to performance data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
The data covered APRA-regulated funds for the 10-year period from 2004 to 2013, with corporate and industry funds dominating the top 20 positions for a 10-year per annum ROR.
The first retail fund – Perpetual WealthFocus – ranked 20th, while the next retail fund ranked 54th for a 10-year annualised ROR.
Retail funds did much better when measured over a five-year annualised ROR with the first retail fund – Challenger Retirement Fund – ranking fourth behind three corporate funds and ahead of REST which ranked fifth.
Perpetual WealthFocus continued to be well represented, ranking 11th over the five-year measure with the next retail fund – State Super – ranking 41st over five years.
Retail funds took out four places in the top 20 for one-year ROR, with the highest ranked fund Perpetual WealthFocus in third followed by Colonial First State Rollover & Superannuation Fund in fourth. The highest ranked industry fund was The Victorian Independent Schools Superannuation Fund in second, with Coal Industry Superannuation Fund and AvSuper Fund the next highest ranked industry super funds at seventh and eighth.
According to APRA, "the ROR represents the net earnings of superannuation assets towards funding members' benefits, primarily for retirement … and measures the combined earnings of a superannuation fund's assets across all its products and investment options".
The 200 funds covered by the APRA data account for nearly 99 per cent of superannuation fund members and 99.9 per cent of assets in APRA-regulated funds and eligible rollover funds (ERFs). The funds also account for 59.2 per cent of total assets of the whole superannuation industry.
