Super assets steadily rising
Superannuation assets rose 3.2 per cent to reach just shy of $550 billion at the end of the September quarter 2003, according to theAustralian Prudential Regulation Authority(APRA) in its latest edition of Super Trends released today.
All fund types recorded an increase in assets over the quarter, with small funds — those having fewer than five members — again experiencing the highest growth with a 7.9 per cent increase (or $8.7 billion) to push their assets out to $117.9 billion.
The growth of other fund sectors includes industry funds (5.3 per cent), public sector funds (3.9 per cent), retail funds (3.4 per cent) and corporate funds (2.7 per cent).
Total super contributions in the September 2003 quarter of $14.7 billion were down 2.9 per cent, or $2.2 billion, on the previous quarter. Employers contributed $9.1 billion towards the inflows with member contributions accounting for the remaining $5.6 billion.
For the various asset classes, equities and unit trusts exhibited the largest increase with a 5.5 per cent growth over the period, while loans and placements increased by 5.3 per cent and offshore assets rose 3.6 per cent.
In terms of the mediums for investing, directly invested super assets showed the highest growth during the quarter, with a 6 per cent rise, while assets flowing to investment managers increased 2.4 per cent and assets invested through the statutory funds of life offices showed modest growth after rising by less than 1 per cent.
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