The medium growth superannuation fund (61 to 80 per cent growth assets) gained 1.5 per cent over the September quarter thanks to the listed shares market driving growth, according to Chant West.
Chant West’s latest report found that Australian shares provided a 0.8 per cent return for the quarter and international shares four per cent on a hedged basis. However, the appreciation of the Australian dollar to US$0.78 reduced this to 2.5 per cent in unhedged terms.
Chant West director, Warren Chant, said While most of the major listed markets had share prices that moved higher in recent months, Australia had been slower than most in the upward trend. He said the other main laggard was the UK, still beset by Brexit’s uncertain ramifications.
The medium growth fund returned 9.1 per cent over the year to 30 September 2017, 9.7 over five years, and 4.9 per cent over 10 years.
The report also found that industry funds outperformed retail funds in September at one per cent compared to 0.7 per cent.
Private market assets in super have surged, while private debt recorded the fastest growth among all investment types.
The equities investor has launched a new long-short fund seeded by UniSuper, targeting alpha from ASX 300 equities using AI insights.
The fund has strengthened efforts to boost gender diversity, targeting 40:40:20 balance across its investment teams by 2030.
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.