AustralianSuper, a Melbourne-based superannuation fund with more than A$140 billion ($104.1 billion) in retirement assets, reported double-digit member returns for the latest fiscal year.
The superannuation fund said in a news release Wednesday that its balanced option, where 90% of AustralianSuper's 2.2 million members invest their retirement savings, returned 11.1% for the fiscal year ended June 30.
That would leave AustralianSuper well above the estimated 9.2% median return for the year announced by independent super research house Chant West on June 28.
The latest gains left annualized three-year returns for AustralianSuper's balanced option at 9.3% and its annualized five-year returns at 10.5%, the news release said.
The fund has delivered double-digit returns for five out of the last six years.
Mark Delaney, AustralianSuper's deputy chief executive and chief investment officer, in the news release, tied the latest strong returns to the balanced option's "high allocation to listed equity markets," at more than 60% of the portfolio, and its underweight allocation to "lower-returning defensive asset classes such as fixed income and cash."
Mr. Delaney, speaking with reporters Wednesday, said a more cautious approach to allocations is likely for the current fiscal year. The balanced option's equity weighting could fall to around 55% or 56% from 62% to 63% at the end of June as less of the fund's net cash inflows go into stocks, he said.
