Retirees will continue to face challenges

Although November was another positive month for superannuation, SuperRatings has found that members with significant exposure to cash will continue to face challenges.

According to the study, which tracked the returns of the most common super options over the past 10 years, a balance of $100,000 in 2011 invested in a typical balanced option would now show an increase of 148% whereas the same balance invested in a cash option would see a growth of 23%.

SuperRatings also found the majority of pension assets were sitting in balanced, conservative balanced and capital balance options, with the latter two investing more in bonds and cash-like investments.

However, looking at cash options more closely, over the last 10 years, a member sitting in cash would have seen a return of only 2.2% per annum, the study said.

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“The experience of many Australians with exposure to cash has been extremely challenging. Reviewing your risk profile remains important, as retirees need to ensure they are invested in a way that helps them achieve their long-term objectives,” SuperRatings executive director, Kirby Rappell, said.

“We also need to see greater innovation in this space to ensure that super funds are able to help retirees achieve appropriate outcomes in retirement.”

As far as November was concerned, according to SuperRatings’ data, the median balanced, growth and capital stable options all rose an estimated 0.3%, with the balanced option returning an estimated 11.4% for the calendar year to date while the growth option returned an estimated 14.1% over the same period.

Pension returns were also positive in November, with the median balanced pension option having returned an estimated 0.3% over the month and 12.0% over the calendar year to date.

At the same time, the median pension growth option also returned an estimated 0.3% and the median capital stable option gained an estimated 0.4% through the month. Further, the estimates of the performance for the calendar year to date stood at 15.1% and 12.0% for the typical growth and capital stable options, respectively.