The median growth fund recorded total returns of 7.1 per cent in the first 11 months of the year and the estimated median return for the year stands at six per cent, according to a statement by Chant West.
By contrast, the statement said super funds delivered returns of 17.2 per cent in 2013 and 12.8 per cent in 2012.
But Chant West director Warren Chant said the results should be seen as “solid”, heralding a “return to normality.”
“It would mean that members’ savings will have grown at about double the rate of increase in the cost of living and well ahead of the growth in wages,” he said.
“In a way, it would also be a welcome return to normality after a decade in which we’ve had six annual returns in double digits and two negative years, including the 21.5 per cent shock loss in 2008 at the height of the GFC.”
In November, the median growth fund recorded a gain of 0.8 per cent but the first half of December has seen negative results, according to the statement.
Industry funds and retail funds performed similarly in the year to November, with industry funds returning 7.3 per cent and retail funds returning seven per cent.
