According to the research house, the weighting of Australian super funds to international shares was the biggest driver of returns over the 2014 calendar year.
“Superannuation funds benefited from the falling Australian dollar, which experienced a 7.9 per cent drop against the US dollar during the calendar year, further driving returns.
“Australian shares produced a modest return for the year, adding only 1.4 per cent for the 12-month period,” a statement from SuperRatings said.
SuperRatings also said returns across the industry over the past 10 years are now at a median of 6.3 per cent per annum which is in line with their targeted CPI plus 3.5 per cent per annum.
“Despite much doom and gloom being bandied around due to world issues, markets appear to be trying to find every positive reason available to move forward.
“Or is it just that we are in a new paradigm that we are yet to recognise? Only time will tell,” SuperRatings continued.
Further highlighting the growth super funds have experienced, SuperRatings said only the mid-GFC loss of 19.7 per cent in 2008 and the minor “blip” of a negative 1.9 per cent return in 2011 have restricted “surging returns”.
“In fact, since the bottom of the GFC in February 2009, balanced options have rebounded by a massive 72 per cent, fuelled by rebounding stock markets around the world,” SuperRatings said.
