Three quarters of all self-managed super funds (SMSF) have higher weightings to cash and lower weighting to equities than their larger, higher-performing SMSFs peers, which hold the majority of SMSF assets, according to SuperGuard 360’s July 2018 SMSF performance indices.
The SMSF sector as a whole (SG360 SMSF Reference Index) returned 10.5 per cent to the end of July 2018, while the SG360 Default Index, which represents the returns a SMSF investor would have received if invested in MySuper products, returned 10.2 per cent.
The report also showed that if a SMSF member invested $100,000 in a SMSF, their funds would have increased by 62 per cent, and would now be valued at $162,458, while for those invested in a MySuper product, their funds would have increased by 70 per cent, and would now be valued at $169,869.
The chart below shows the performance of the indices across a rolling 12 month period.
The performance indices showed the majority of SMSF members were therefore in funds that were likely to achieve less-than-ideal investment outcomes, and encouraged members to review the amount they pay in fees and benchmark their portfolio to ensure their retirement savings last.
The performance indices also showed that MySuper products invest more in international equities and fixed interest bonds, while SMSF products invest more in property, cash and Australian equities.
SuperGuard 360 said US stocks had gained 3.7 per cent, closely followed by Europe’s FTSE Euro 100 with returns of 3.6 per cent and international stocks overall rose 3.2 per cent, while the Australian share market generated 1.4 per cent in the month with small cap stocks losing one per cent.
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