Returns as high as double digits continue to be announced by some of Australia’s largest superannuation funds with members of industry and retail funds sharing equally in the performance largesse.
Funds that have disclosed their 2025 financial year performance figures include industry and corporate funds AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, Aware Super, UniSuper, Hostplus, Cbus Super, REST, HEST, TelstraSuper and Brighter Super, and retail funds CFS, MLC, AMP and Mercer Super.
The recurring themes were volatile share markets with United State equities driving returns until U.S. tariffs produced a dive in prices in April which was quickly reversed as confidence returned.
The performance highlights included:
- AustralianSuper: 10.61% for its High Growth option and 9.52% for its Balanced option, where most members of Australia’s largest ($365 billion of assets) fund are invested.
“It has been a challenging 12 months for active investors, so being able to deliver this strong result for members is pleasing,” Chief Investment Officer Mark Delaney said in a media release.
- Australian Retirement Trust (ART): 11.9% for its ART High Growth Option, the third consecutive year of double-digit returns for the $321 billion fund.
“Our infrastructure assets – particularly airports – and successful divestments like our stake in AirTrunk helped drive performance,” Chief Investment Officer Ian Patrick said in a media release.
- Aware Super: 11.88%, the third year in a row of double-digit growth for the $188 billion fund’s Future Saver High Growth option and 9.78% from its Conservative Balanced option for pension members.
“This year, global equities, private equity and infrastructure were again strong contributors. Even in months when markets fell, like April, our portfolio remained resilient,” Chief Investment Officer Damian Graham said in a media release.
- UniSuper: 10.3% from the $149 billion fund’s Balanced default option and 11% from the Growth option.
“We’re very pleased to deliver these returns to our members over a tough year, building on our record of strong long-term returns,” UniSuper Chief Investment Officer John Pearce said in a media release.
- Hostplus: 10.81% from the $130 billion fund’s Balanced option and 12.02% from the Indexed Balanced option.
“We continued to see growth in equity markets, despite periods of significant volatility, which was matched by strong performance across unlisted asset classes - including infrastructure, private equity, and credit," CIO Sam Sicilia said in a media release.
- CFS (Colonial First State): 12.80% from the FirstChoice Employer Super Growth Option (Lifestage 1975–79) and 11.36% from the Balanced (Lifestage 1965–69) option of Australia’s largest ($101 billion) retail fund, owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA).
“The recovery following April’s global sell-off, triggered by rising tariffs, showed how quickly markets can shift,” Chief Investment Officer Jonathan Armitage said in a media release.
- Cbus Super: 10.29% from the $100 billion fund’s Growth (MySuper) option despite a period of wild swings in investment markets.
“Underneath the strong numbers is a white-knuckle story of periods of wild volatility,” Chief Investment Officer Leigh Gavin said in a media release.
He said the fund was looking at returns of 1.20% for the financial year-to-date before the resurgence in share markets.
- REST: 9.85% from the $99 billion fund's MySuper Growth default investment option.
"The dominant US technology stocks continued their surge through to mid-March, before pulling back with the broader market following the US Government’s tariff announcements,” interim co-Chief Investment Officer Kiran Singh said in a media release.
- HESTA: 10.18% for the $92 billion fund’s MySuper Balanced Growth option, the third straight year of annual returns above 9%.
“While volatility has eased after a surge in March and April, geopolitical events remain an important consideration as we head into the new financial year,” Chief Investment Officer, Sonya Sawtell-Rickson said in a media release.
- MLC: 10.1% from the $88 billion fund’s MLC MySuper Growth option and 11.4% from the MLC High Growth investment option.
Chief Investment Officer Dan Farmer said the strong performance of global and Australian equities was the key drivers of the performance, with alternative assets, private credit and infrastructure also performing well.
“This year was one of the noisiest we’ve had in a while, but despite the noise, we have delivered strong returns and good outcomes for members, against a volatile market backdrop,” Farmer said in a media release.
- Mercer Super: between 12.3% and 12.6% from the $74 billion fund’s Mercer SmartPath default investment option across age-based cohorts for members between 18 and 52.
“In response to the evolving economic outlook, we moderately reduced our exposure to equities to manage short term fluctuations,” Chief Investment Officer Graeme Miller said in a media release.
- AMP: 10.1%, 11.2%, 12.7%, 12.9% and 12.8% from the $55 billion fund’s MySuper 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s options respectively.
“Our overweight to US shares contributed meaningfully to performance in the first part of the year — and we closed that overweight in early February, anticipating risks around US trade policy,” Chief Investment Officer Anna Shelley said in a media release.
- Brighter Super: 10.89% from the $34 billion fund’s MySuper default option.
“This is a great result for members, given the volatility the markets have experienced through the year," said Mark Rider, Chief Investment Officer said in a media release.
- TelstraSuper: 9.6% from the $27 billion fund’s MySuper Growth Investment Option.
