Australian super funds are benefiting from the global share market rally, with big gains in the US and European markets already being reflected in members’ accounts to get the new financial year off to a promising start.
SuperRatings found that the median balanced option and median growth option grew approximately 1.1 and 1.3 per cent respectively in July. Considering the average monthly return over the last five years has hovered around 0.7 per cent, this was a strong start to the fiscal year.
Global share growth was largely responsible for this, with funds with global exposure having an advantage over those focused on Australian shares as the latter took a battering partially because of the continued effects of the Royal Commission on the financial sector. The SR50 International Shares Index jumped 2.2 per cent in July, compared to a rise of half that from the SR50 Australian Shares Index.
“Super funds have ridden a wave of positive sentiment over the past few months, and this has been reinforced by strong earnings growth, especially in the US and Europe,” SuperRatings chief executive, Kirby Rappell, said.
“Despite the imminent threats to the market rally, from trade wars to Brexit to the emerging economic crisis in Turkey, nothing seems to be putting a dent in confidence.”
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
With private asset valuations emerging as a key concern for both regulators and the broader market, Apollo Global Management has called on the corporate regulator to issue clear principles on valuation practices, including guidance on the disclosures it expects from market participants.
Institutional asset owners are largely rethinking their exposure to the US, with private markets increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment allocation, new research has shown.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.