REST Super emerges winner for core option

REST Industry Super has come out as the best-performing fund over the year to December after it posted a 19.7 per cent return for its Core option (balanced asset allocation).

The research attributed the result to strategic decisions such as moving to international equities and hedging the Australian dollar to the fund's strong performance. REST has outperformed its peers over almost every time period over the last decade.

Superannuation generally had a strong 2013, with the median balanced option finishing the calendar year with a 16.3 per cent gain, Super Ratings found.

This is the best result since Super Ratings started tracking fund returns in 2000.

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The results were based on growth-style assets of between 60 to 76 per cent.

According to Super Ratings, the median superannuation balanced option in December recorded a 1.4 per cent gain, bringing the return over the first six months of the 2013/14 financial year to 9.2 per cent.

This puts the return over the five years to 31 December 2013 at 8.7 per cent.

"With the 10-year return now sitting at 7.1 per cent per annum, funds continue to provide members invested for the long term with real rates of return at some 4 per cent above inflation over this time," SuperRatings' founder Jeff Bresnahan said.

Meanwhile, the latest Chant West superannuation fund performance survey found industry funds outperformed retail funds in 2013, returning 17.4 per cent versus 16.9 per cent. This is despite share market exposure that usually benefits master trusts.