Australian self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) investors showed an increased appetite for both equity and international investing in 2017, according to nabtrade.
The nabtrade data, which looked at SMSF’s equity trading patterns in the 12 months to 15 December, 2017, found that international trading surged nearly 100 per cent over the previous year. US equities and US exchange traded funds (ETFs) were the most traded international equity instruments.
Gemma Dale, NAB director of SMSF and consumer behaviour said that this was due to SMSF investors using offshore markets to diversify their portfolios and access high growth US sectors.
SMSF investments in mFunds almost tripled, holdings in ETFs and partially paid shares more than doubled, and investments in preferences shares grew by a third. Traditional equity holdings jumped by 13.5 per cent by the end of the year.
“The analysis shows that investors are getting comfortable with the more exotic equity instruments in the market and are prepared to spread risk,” Dale said. “Low levels of volatility and the strong performance of domestic and international products gave investors confidence to look for new opportunities.”
The data also showed increased popularity for innovative sectors, such as robotics and aerospace, using ETFs.
As in previous years, financials and materials were the most heavily traded stocks, with telecommunication services, healthcare and consumer discretionary stocks also proving popular. Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Telstra were the most traded stocks for the year.
