Australian super funds embrace higher risk
One of the issues with having some increasingly large super funds is that what they do will influence the whole industry.
That is certainly the case with mega funds such as the $300 billion Australian Retirement Trust, which currently has a first mover advantage on increasing the level of risk – and return – for its MySuper investors.
Given that ART is the number two super fund in Australia and is also in the top 20 in the world, that simple move will have a big effect on the super landscape and particularly what happens to the vast bulk of relatively uninvolved super investors with their money in default MySuper funds.
MySuper funds moving from balanced to growth
Usually, these MySuper funds have what is termed a balanced portfolio – somewhere in the range of 60% to 70% local and offshore shares with the balance in assets like property and fixed interest.
By choosing to move around 1.4 million of its MySuper clients under the age of 50 into a growth setting, which has a higher proportion of shares and should produce higher super balances at a cost of greater volatility, ART has now unleashed a situation that is likely to see lots of other MySuper funds follow its lead.
In financial planning terms the move makes sense, given that younger members with lower balances are at a life stage that should benefit strongly from a less conservative investment approach.
They are also at a life stage in which a rare year of poorer returns can quickly be overcome by the higher returns that are also more common for growth funds with a higher percentage of shares.
Higher returns lead to more members
In a competitive sense, the move by ART is also a winner because it should allow it to report higher MySuper returns than those funds with more conservative investment settings.
That should lead to even more members joining up and also to more fee income, given that growth options require more fees as well.
Interestingly, there is little to stop any super fund from following the ART lead, given that MySuper default fund members are virtually by definition uninvolved super members.
While MySuper default funds were only really introduced in 2014, their precursor funds have long been assumed to have uninvolved members who have just ticked the default box on their way into a job and ended up in an industry fund.
Old balanced assumption being challenged
As an industry, super funds have assigned a “balanced” investment to these funds because they covered a wide range of workers who they assumed had a range of financial objectives, leading to a middle of the road investment approach.
As part of ART’s move to more lifestyle investment products, it has nudged these funds towards a higher growth path because of the age and stage of life of the vast majority of members.
Given that the competitive environment will likely see a lot of other funds move in a similar direction, there is something that super fund members can do if they are not happy with the direction their default fund is taking.
Getting more involved can help
It is a relatively straightforward task to move from an uninvolved default fund member to becoming much more involved in selecting the level of risk and return you are comfortable with.
All of the major funds encourage more members involvement and, of course, if you are unhappy with your current fund it is also relatively straightforward to shop around and find one you are more comfortable with.
Members are then free to select the level of risk and reward they are happy with and can even select from a variety of options that might more accurately reflect their aims and also even their ethical feelings on various investments.