The Hostplus Indexed Balanced option was the top performing option in the SR50 Balanced (60-76) Index of the last financial year, according to SuperRatings.
It returned 12.2 per cent for the year ending June 2024.
This was closely followed by Raiz Super’s Moderately Aggressive option and Colonial First State’s Enhanced Index Balanced option, returning 12.1 per cent and 11.4 per cent respectively.
SuperRatings noted balanced funds are those with a strategic allocation of between 60 per cent to 76 per cent of their portfolio invested in growth assets.
According to its analysis, the rest of the top 10 performing options were:
Funds with a higher exposure to shares and listed assets generally outperformed for the year, in a repeat of 2023, the research house observed.
Meanwhile, “those with greater exposure to unlisted property reported more subdued outcomes,” it explained.
“As a result, members who were invested in index funds generally outperformed more actively managed options, given the strong focus on, and allocation towards, listed shares.”
Broadly, SuperRatings observed an “impressive” year of returns, fuelled by Australian banking and international technology shares. This was despite a staggered start to the year.
“Concerns over inflation caused a slow start to the year, with multiple negative monthly returns recorded until October 2023,” it explained.
“Increased confidence in the outlook for inflation and ongoing developments in artificial intelligence led a market rally from November to March and while higher than expected inflation data led to a stumble in April, returns recovered quickly to finish the year strong.”
A member body representing some prominent wealth managers is concerned super funds’ dominance is sidelining small companies in capital markets.
Earlier this month, several Australian superannuation funds fell victim to credential stuffing attacks, which saw a small number of members lose more than $500,000.
Small- to medium-sized funds have become collateral damage in an "imperfect" model for super industry levies, a financial institution has said.
Big business has joined the chorus of opposition against the proposed Division 296 tax.