Chant West

With the Magnificent 7 leading the charge, the S&P500 index took all before it last year. A repeat performance is not out of the question, but it could be prudent to look for investment opportunities in other overseas markets.

Growth and balanced super funds shot the lights out in 2024 off the back of bullish international equity markets and a weaker Australian dollar. While it was a standout year, Chant West research shows their returns were in keeping with the historical trend.

The value of Australian’s superannuation pool rose to a record high of $3.62 trillion in the June quarter, a highlight of the managed funds industry’s surging overall performance over the past year as rising rates and rebounding markets improved asset values.

Australians should be putting more money into superannuation and diversifying out of property, some say, even as super performance remains a question mark.

Super fund members have been “spared the worst,” while the outperformance of the top ten funds was generated by active management and chunky allocations to private markets.

The country’s largest super fund, Australian Super, has announced a new fee structure aimed at reducing member costs by $300 million this year, following what has been a busy year for consolidation in the industry.

Superannuation research house Chant West, part of the Zenith Investment Consulting group, this week published its quarterly performance update on the industry fund sector. Despite the volatility experienced in March, which spanned both bond and equity markets, returns continued to surprise on the upside in March. Chant West’s research seeks to differentiate between the (at…