01.02.10 - Our investment returns to 31 December 2009 are now available

Author: AustralianSuper

Crediting rates for all AustralianSuper’s investment options for the period to 31 December 2009 are now available.

For the six-month and 12-month periods ended 31 December 2009 AustralianSuper’s investment returns reflect the resurgence of share markets (particularly Australian shares) and provide a very positive contrast to the returns members have experienced in the last two years as a result of the global financial crisis.

For the six months to 31 December 2009 AustralianSuper’s Balanced option returned 11.97% and for the 12 months to that date it returned 10.24%. This compares extremely well to the Balanced option’s return of -19.36% for the 12 months to 31 December 2008. For the ten years to 31 December 2009 our Balanced Option has returned an average of 6.52% per annum (after fees and taxes), which is 1% higher than the median* super fund.

These positive returns are a reminder that markets do recover and that when we are investing over a long period of time it doesn’t make sense to be overly concerned by poor or negative performance in the short-term.

 

Shares on the rebound

Recent investment returns of some of our DIY Mix investment options have actually been unusually high. It is important to understand the recent high returns in the context of the very low returns that went before them, however.

For example, for the 12 months to 31 December 2009 our Australian Shares option returned 37.91% and 25.49% for the six months to that date. These are not the sorts of returns an investor would expect under more ‘normal’ circumstances. Rather, in this case these returns are the result of Australian shares making up ground that was lost during the financial crisis, and share returns ‘rebounding’ a long way up from a very low base. They need to be compared to the Australian Shares option’s return of -36.21% for the 12 months to 31 December 2008!

 

Investment markets looking forward

Since March 2009, international and Australian share markets have made up significant ground. There have been some minor dips in share returns since then, but a recovery is expected to continue – albeit slowly, against a backdrop of high unemployment that is still being experienced in many economies.

AustralianSuper’s Investment Committee is continuing to monitor economic conditions and investment markets very closely. The Committee adjusts the Fund’s exposures to individual asset classes in line with these changing conditions, and within the predetermined ranges for each asset class in each AustralianSuper investment option.

 

For more information:

See your benefit statement in March

Your benefit statement for the six months to 31 December 2009 will be mailed in March, with a Member Bulletin containing more detail on investment markets and the progress of AustralianSuper’s investment options.

 

Watch our webcast in February

On 10 February 2010 at 7 pm (AEDT) our Chief Investment Officer, Mark Delaney, will present a webcast to discuss recent investment markets and AustralianSuper’s performance.

To ensure your don't miss the event, you can register for a webcast reminder.

 

Subscribe for e-investment bulletins

You can also register to receive emails with monthly bulletins on investment topics of interest and investment performance.

 

Check here for quarterly updates

We also publish a quarterly investment update on this website, which provides a quarterly round-up on the Fund’s performance and information on each asset class.

 

 _{*  Median super fund as measured by the SR50 Median Balanced Option in the SuperRatings Crediting Rate Survey for December 2009.}