Equities dominate super investments
More than half of Australia’s superannuation investments are directed towards equities, according to the latest data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
What is more, the data confirm that while industry funds have a higher exposure to unlisted investments such as infrastructure, their exposure to equities is virtually the equal of that of retail funds.
The APRA data revealed that as at the end of the December 2016 quarter, 50.2 per cent of the $1.5 trillion superannuation investments were invested in equities; with 23.4 per cent in Australian listed equities, 22.2 per cent in international listed equities and 4.5 per cent in unlisted equities.
It found that fixed income and cash investments accounted for 32.5 per cent of investments; 20.4 per cent in fixed income and 12.1 per cent in cash.
Property and infrastructure accounted for 13.4 per cent of investments and 3.8 per cent were invested in other assets, including hedge funds and commodities.
The APRA data said superannuation assets totalled $2.2 trillion at the end of the December 2016 quarter and that over the 12 months from December 2015 there was a 7.4 per cent increase in total superannuation assets.
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