Strong growth for industry funds
Total estimated superannuation assets grew by 6.7 per cent over the September 2005 quarter to $791.5 billion, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
The September 2005 edition of APRA’s Quarterly Superannuation Performance, released yesterday, also found total super assets grew by 22.4 per cent for the 12 months to September last year.
Industry funds posted the strongest growth during the September 2005 quarter with assets increasing by 8.8 per cent ($9.9 billion) to $122.8 billion.
Retail fund assets grew by 6.4 per cent ($15.9 billion) to $263.8 billion in the quarter, public sector fund assets by 5.9 per cent ($7.5 billion) to $135.9 billion, and corporate fund assets by 4.9 per cent ($3.2 billion) to $68.6 billion.
Retail funds held the largest proportion of superannuation assets as at September 30 last year, accounting for 33.3 per cent of total assets, followed by self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) with 22.7 per cent of total assets. Public sector funds accounted for 17.2 per cent of total assets, industry funds 15.5 per cent and corporate funds 8.7 per cent.
Based on super entities with at least $50 million in assets, the APRA survey estimates 29.4 per cent of super assets were invested in wholesale trusts, 24.2 per cent in life insurance companies and 21.3 per cent were held in SMSFs.
Of the remaining assets, 8 per cent were held in pooled superannuation trusts, 5 per cent in other investments, including overseas and leased assets, 5.9 per cent were directly invested, and 5.6 per cent were held in unlisted public offer unit trusts.
Contributions to funds over the quarter were $13.7 billion, with employers contributing $9.1 billion and members contributing $4.4 billion. Other contributions, including spouse contributions and government co-contributions, totalled $116 million.
Retail funds received 43.9 per cent ($6 billion) of total contributions over the quarter. Public sector funds received 24.8 per cent ($3.4 billion), industry funds received 24.2 per cent ($3.3 billion) and corporate funds 7.1 per cent ($1 billon).
At the end of September 2005, 29.4 per cent of superannuation assets ($168.3 billion) were invested in wholesale trusts and 24.2 per cent ($139.0 billion) in life insurance companies. Individually managed mandates comprised 21.3 per cent of superannuation assets ($122.2 billion).
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