First Super has declared that “small is beautiful”, as its growth option’s annual returns for the last financial year outperformed those of some funds that are 50 times its size.
The fund’s growth option delivered members with returns of 11.90 per cent for the fiscal year, while its balanced (default), share plus and cash options returned 10.68, 13.91 and 2.31 per cent, respectively.
First Super chief executive, Bill Watson, said the results busted the myth that smaller funds are unsustainable, saying they showed they could deliver better returns and lower fees than their larger counterparts.
“In superannuation it is important to not be distracted by spurious ‘one size fits all’ type arguments. We saw this with the faux debate on independent directors, and we also see it with the concerted push for fund consolidation,” he said.
“First Super’s value proposition is that it is close to its members as a small industry fund designed for workers in a particular sector and a top performer in the marketplace.”
