Equities drive better superannuation returns


Self-managed superannuation funds with a reasonable exposure to equities should have regained some ground in October, if new data released by specialist research houses Chant West and SuperRatings are a guide.
The Chant West data revealed the median growth fund grew by 3.1 per cent last month, while the SuperRatings data revealed 2.78 per cent growth for the median balanced option.
Chant West principal Warren Chant attributed the positive October figure to a share market rally based on optimism that European leaders had devised a workable plan to stem the sovereign debt crisis.
However he pointed out that markets had softened again this month as it had become clear the debt crisis had a long way to run.
Because of their higher exposure to equities, retail master trusts out-performed industry super funds in October, but Chant pointed out that industry funds were still the better performers over the longer-haul.
Despite the positive October performance, superannuation returns remain in negative territory on a year-to-date basis.
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