SMSF assets climb to over $746bn, new data shows
The latest statistics provided by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority show that SMSF assets increased by 4.46 per cent from the March quarter last year to March this year; however, the industry super fund sector saw the fastest rate of growth.
According to the latest statistics provided by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), SMSF assets have jumped by 4.46 per cent from $714.7 billion from the end of March last year up to $746.6 billion this year.
The SMSF sector experienced the third fastest rate of growth out of the total superannuation sector, with industry super fund assets increasing by 13.14 per cent, while public sector super funds jumped by 7.31 per cent.
Assets held within industry super funds increased from $598.8 billion in March 2018 to $677.5 billion at the end of March this year.
Among APRA-regulated super funds, the industry-wide rate of return for the year ending March 2019 was 6.9 per cent. The five-year annualised rate of return to March 2019 was 6.9 per cent.
Over the March 2019 quarter, total assets increased by 5.7 per cent or $106.6 billion, APRA said in its report.
“As at the end of the March 2019 quarter, 50.5 per cent of the $1.8 trillion investments were invested in equities, with 24.4 per cent in international listed equities, 22.1 per cent in Australian listed equities and 4.0 per cent in unlisted equities. Fixed income and cash investments accounted for 31.4 per cent of investments, with 21.2 per cent in fixed income and 10.1 per cent in cash,” it noted.
“Property and infrastructure accounted for 14.2 per cent of investments while other assets, including hedge funds and commodities, accounted for 3.9 per cent.”
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
