2004 represented a bumper year for superannuation fund members, with Australian growth-oriented superannuation funds delivering their best calendar year performance in nine years, according to Intech Investment Consultants.
The Intech Growth Funds survey showed that the median manager returned 15.9 per cent for the 2004 calendar year, making it the best calendar year since 1995 when the median manager returned 16.5 per cent.
The top performer for the 12 months was Invesco with a 22 per cent return, followed by Perpetual with 19 per cent, BT with 18.5 per cent, AMP Balanced Growth with 17.8 per cent and IOOF/Perennial with 17.7 per cent.
Rounding out the top seven were Citigroup Growth with 17.6 per cent and Suncorp with 17 per cent.
According to InTech senior consultant, Andrew Korbel the main driver for the result was Australia’s buoyant share market combined with listed property trusts.
“2004 was a rather unusual year in that all asset classes exceeded the cash return, so no matter what sector a fund was invested in, 2004 was likely to be a good year,” Korbel said.
However, he said that funds which maintained an overweight position in Australian shares throughout the year and a good exposure to listed property were position to do very well.
Korbel said that of the top seven managers for 2004, all except AMP Balanced Growth had started 2004 with an above-average aggregate exposure to Australian shares and listed property, with an overweight position ranging between one and 12 per cent.
He said the Intech data also indicated that most of 2004’s top performers had benefited from good stock selection within Australian shares.
Despite the robust returns in 2004, Korbel warned against superannuation funds becoming complacent, arguing that returns such as those achieved over the past 12 months were not the norm.
