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The median Australian superannuation fund delivered a 10.5% total return in FY25, beating the returns of FY24 (9.1%) and FY23 (9.2%).
New data from Chant West shows that despite the US tariff-induced market meltdown in April and ongoing global military conflicts, superannuation savings continued to rise last financial year.
Shares the key driver of FY25 superannuation returns
Chant West senior investment research manager Mano Mohankumar said resilient share markets drove the ‘tremendous’ FY25 results.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by 9.97% and produced total returns of 13.81% in FY25.
The S&P 500 Index (SP: INX) increased by 13.63% and delivered total returns of 15.16%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJX: .DJI) ascended 12.72%, with total returns of 14.72%.
Mohankumar said foreign currency was also a positive force for superannuation investments in FY25, given the falling Aussie dollar.
In hedged terms, international shares delivered a 13.7% return to superannuation investors. In unhedged terms, this translates to 18.6%.
While shares outperformed, Mohankumar noted that all major asset classes generated positive returns last financial year.
Notably, Australian bonds and international bonds had their best year in six years, rising 6.8% and 5.4%, respectively.
According to Chant West, these are the top 10 median growth superannuation funds based on total returns for FY25.
Chant West defines a median growth superannuation fund as one with a 61% to 80% allocation to shares.
RankSuperannuation fund nameFY25 return1legalsuper MySuper Balanced 12.9%2Vanguard Super SaveSmart Growth 11.8%3Colonial First State (CFS) FirstChoice Growth 11.2%4Australian Retirement Trust Balanced 11.2%5NGS Super Diversified (MySuper)11.2%6smartMonday Balanced Growth 11.1%7AMP Future Directions Balanced11%8UniSuper Growth 11%9Aware Super Balanced 10.9%10Brighter Super MySuper10.9%Source: Chant West. Performance is shown net of investment fees and taxes but before administration costs. How did your superannuation fund perform?
The Chant West data documents how each type of superannuation fund performed in FY25.
You can use these industry benchmarks to compare how your superannuation fund performed in FY25.
According to the data:
‘All growth’ funds, which allocate 96% to 100% of superannuation monies to growth assets, returned 13.5% ‘High growth’ funds, with 81% to 95% invested in growth assets, returned 11.7% ‘Median growth’ funds, as stated earlier, returned 10.5% Balanced superannuation funds, which have 41% to 60% in growth assets and the rest in defensives, returned 8.8% Conservative funds, which have a 21% to 40% allocation to growth assets, returned 7.3% How much super savings do you need for retirement?
Australia’s Retirement Standard is the benchmark guide for budgeting in retirement.
According to the Standard, couples need $690,000 and singles need $595,000 in superannuation by age 67 for a ‘comfortable’ retirement.
This assumes retirees own their homes debt-free, receive a part-pension, and get an average 6% annual return on their investments.
Find out how much superannuation you should have right now for your age.