The superannuation funds ratings houses have confirmed what most financial planners already knew — Australian fund members have now suffered two consecutive financial years of negative returns.
Data released by both Chant West and SuperRatings yesterday confirmed the magnitude of the losses suffered by fund members, with Chant West pointing to an average return of minus 13.3 per cent for the median growth fund.
SuperRatings pointed to a similar expectation for returns, but claimed they needed to be measured against the minus 46 per cent return on listed property and the minus 25 per cent return registered by the Australian Securities Exchange and the Dow Jones.
As well, SuperRatings pointed to the fact that since the introduction of the superannuation guarantee in Australia, the average annual return for balanced investment options within superannuation had been 6.7 per cent a year.
For his part, Chant West principal Warren Chant said super funds had not performed as they were supposed to for the past three years largely because investors had not been rewarded for including higher levels of growth assets in their investment mix.
