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Australia’s best and WORST performing superfunds exposed in sobering new list as almost all make losses
- Super funds typically lost 4.8 percent in 2022
- SuperRatings revealed the worst year since GFC in 2008
- Among the top 20 artists, 18 of them lost
Almost all of Australia’s best-performing superfunds posted losses as retirement savings suffered their worst year since the global financial crisis.
Research group SuperRatings has revealed that the growth-oriented median balanced fund lost 4.8% in 2022 when the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates eight times.
This was the worst year since the GFC in 2008, when retirement balances plunged 19.7 percent.
It was only the fourth year over the past two decades that the super has fallen back, including a 4.8 percent drop in 2002 and a 1.9 percent decline in 2011.
SuperRatings listed 20 balanced super funds that outperformed the typical balanced option, but on that league table, 18 of them lost.
Almost all of Australia’s best-performing superfunds posted losses as retirement savings suffered the worst year since the global financial crisis. SuperRatings listed 20 balanced super funds that outperformed the typical balanced option, but on that leaderboard, 18 of them made losses (stock image of older couple shown)
Perpetual WealthFocus was the best performer in 2022 with its Perpetual Balanced Growth Fund last year growing 1.7 percent.
But over 10 years, its 6.9 percent average annual return was below the 7.5 percent average pace for balanced funds.
First Super’s Balanced fund was the only other product to be in positive territory in 2022, but it barely rose, rising just 0.1 percent.
It had a 10-year average annual return of 7.6 percent.
Every other super fund in the top 20 list fell, from CareSuper’s Balanced fund losing 2 percent to Spirit Super’s Balanced (My Super) fund falling 4.4 percent.
The median balanced fund, with an allocation of 60 to 76 percent in growth-oriented assets, suffered a 4.8 percent drop in 2022.
Research group SuperRatings has revealed that the growth-oriented median balanced fund lost 4.8% in 2022 when the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates eight times.
This was a far cry from the 6.1 percent growth average since 2000 and the mammoth 13.4 percent growth pace of 2021, when interest rates were still at a record low of 0.1 percent.
SuperRatings chief executive Kirby Rappell has urged Australians to refrain from panicking over a bad year, with more interest rate hikes expected in 2023 to tackle the worst inflation in 32 years.
“With more uncertainty ahead, it’s still important to set your strategy and try to ignore current market noise to increase the chances of long-term success,” he said.
Australia’s major banks expect the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates again in February, which would take the cash rate to a new 10-year high of 3.35 percent.
Funds that did poorly in 2022 had better returns over the longer term.
Aware Super’s growth product plunged 6.7 percent last year, but for the past decade, it has enjoyed an average growth of 8 percent per year.
The Hostplus Balanced fund had the best average annual return of 9.1 percent over the past decade and in 2022, it had a smaller loss of 2.5 percent.