As most ASX investors would know, the investing world has had a fairly strong start to 2024. Year to date, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up a solid 1.24% so far, and has hit several new all-time highs along the way. That's after the ASX 200 rose an impressive 11.9% over the two months to 31 December, of course. But what about superannuation?
Our superannuation accounts are not an asset class in themselves but represent a vehicle for other assets, which our super funds invest in to help us fund a comfortable retirement when the time comes.
Many Australians don't have a comprehensive understanding of what kind of assets our super is invested in. The most popular super account is the so-called 'balanced fund', which invests in a variety of different assets. These typically include a mix of ASX shares, international shares, bonds, unlisted assets and cash.
Because of this diverse mix of asset classes in most Australians' super, it can be hard to keep track of exactly how our funds are performing. Even if the share market is having a good few months.
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Share market delivers a strong January for superannuation
Luckily, financial research firm Chant West has done some of the hard work for us. In a media release last month, Chant West revealed that super funds were off to a great start in 2024.
The firm found that the 'median growth fund' (funds with between 61 and 80% allocated to growth assets like shares) were up an average of 1% over the month of January 2024. That was after gaining an average of 9.9% over the 2023 calendar year.
Chant West also found that more balanced funds holding between 41% and 60% growth assets grew by an average of 0.7% over January.
Those numbers might not sound too impressive, but they are a strong showing for only a one-month period. Chant West senior research manager Mano Mohankumar cited strong returns from international shares, as well as a weaker Australian dollar, for the strong January showing. Here's some more of what he had to say on these findings:
The end of January marks exactly four years since the pre-COVID high reached in 2020. Despite the challenging backdrop of market volatility over that period, the median growth fund is up nearly 23%, so members who have remained patient and resisted the temptation to switch to a more conservative option have been well-rewarded.
Even more importantly, super funds are continuing to meet their long-term return and risk objectives.
So good news for any Australian with a superannuation fund. Let's hope the rest of 2024 is just as robust.
