The median superannuation fund has returned 7.3 per cent in the financial year 2010/11, while 99 per cent of investment options had a positive return for the year, according to a survey by SuperRatings.
Their performance was well above inflation, which stood at 3.6 per cent over the 12 months to June 2011.
"Not unexpectedly, the percentage of funds in positive territory drops to between 73 per cent and 79 per cent over both three and five-year periods, as both bring the global financial crisis into play, whilst the percentage improves markedly to over 92 per cent over both 7 and 10 year periods," SuperRatings said.
Over a 10-year period, super funds had an annual rolling return of 4.41 per cent, while the median balanced fund, the most commonly used default option, returned 4.9 per cent over a decade.
Australian equities continued to be the main driver of balanced-fund returns, SuperRatings said.
"Balanced funds on average have an allocation of around 30 per cent to Australian shares. It's no surprise then that this exposure will always be a significant driver of returns, both positive and negative," the research house said.
The best performing fund over a 10-year period was Hostplus' Australian Shares option, which returned 9.6 per cent per annum net of fees and taxes.
Over five years, SunSuper's fixed-interest option was the best performer, with a return of 8.6 per cent per annum.
The AGEST listed-property option had the highest return last financial year at 29.2 per cent.
Looking ahead, SuperRatings expects to see a continued volatility of investment markets.
"There is no doubt that the fallout and after-effects of the GFC will continue for some time to come, which is likely to see debt crises continue to rear their ugly head and impact markets until investors are confident that the underlying issues have been resolved, rather than just averted for the time being, as seems to be the case."
"In this uncertain environment, balanced funds are a good place to be given their exposure to both growth and defensive assets to help them navigate the ups and downs of market cycles."
The survey included 882 investment options, representing about $350 billion in assets under management.
Industry Super Network (ISN) said the data showed that industry super funds continue to outperform retail super funds.
"The figures show that when comparing balanced funds industry super funds outperformed retail super funds by 1.26 per cent over the 2010/11 financial year, and more than 1.7 per cent over 5, 7 and 10 years," ISN chief executive David Whiteley said.
"This new data shows why the MySuper criteria need to be as rigorous as possible," Whiteley said.
"Where people don't actively choose their own super fund - which is most Australians - it is critical that their workplace default fund be the best possible and have a strong history of solid net investment performance," he said.
