Superannuation funds have come out of the December quarter market downturn in good shape, with February’s median balanced option’s return of 2.6 per cent being the highest monthly return since July 2016.
This represented a full recovery for median options from last year’s slump, which saw super funds hit with four consecutive months of negative returns.
For the ten years to February’s end, the data, sourced from SuperRatings, showed that the top-performing option belonged to TelstraSuper with 9.7 per cent, followed by QSuper, UniSuper and CareSuper, all returning 9.5 per cent or above.
The median growth option returned 3.3 per cent over the month, with the median Australian shares and international shares options delivering performances of 5.4 and 4.2 per cent respectively.
SuperRatings executive director, Kirby Rappell, showed the sector’s resilience even in challenging market conditions.
“Markets have generally reacted favourably to the recent round of earnings in Australia and the US, while trade tensions have eased and central banks have backed away from further tightening,” he said. “But most participants expect volatility to return in the near future, meaning funds must remain focused on long-term performance.”
Australia’s second largest super fund has added thermal coal companies to its list of investment exclusions.
The fund has expanded its corporate superannuation solutions to partner with Australian businesses of all sizes.
The chief executive of Aware Super anticipates a significant shift in how ESG factors will influence portfolio values in the next six years, surpassing the changes witnessed in the past two decades.
In a recent statement, shadow assistant minister for home ownership and Liberal senator for NSW, Andrew Bragg, accused ‘big super’ of fabricating data attributed to the Reserve Bank of Australia to push their agenda.
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