Recovering equity markets give retail funds an edge

Better performing equities markets again saw retail superannuation funds outperform their industry fund counterparts during May, according to the most recent data released by Chant West.

According to the data, retail funds returned 2.5 per cent in May compared to industry funds which returned 2.3 per cent, in a scenario which reflected their higher exposure to listed markets.

However, industry funds continued to hold the advantage over the longer-term, having returned 6.9 per cent for the 15 years to May, 2016, compared to retail funds which returned 5.7 per cent.

In the May analysis released by Chant West last week, the company noted that superannuation funds had posted their consecutive positive month with the median growth fund gaining 2.3 per cent in May.

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It said this took the return for the first 11 months of the financial year to four per cent, raising the prospect of a small positive annual return at the end of June.

The Chant West data said the strong performance in May was mainly the result of improving share markets at home and overseas, with Australian shares up 3.1 per cent and hedged international shares rising 1.7 per cent.

It said that these returns, when combined with the depreciation of the Australian dollar (down from US$0.76 to US$0.72), translated into six per cent in unhedged terms.