Most of Australia's top performing MySuper products are also Australia's best at managing investment risk.
Australia's best performing MySuper products over the past three years were Hostplus, AustralianSuper, Media Super, Club Plus, UniSuper, CBUS, Vision Super, Statewide, Lutheran Super and HESTA.
Interestingly, six of these – HESTA, Hostplus, CBUS, Media Super, Club Plus and Statewide - were also Australia's best for risk-adjusted returns.
Further analysis led to HESTA being Australia's best risk-adjusted MySuper product, displacing Hostplus from top spot.
These are the findings of the Rainmaker RMetrics MySuper report to 30 June 2019 that investigated risk-adjusted superannuation performance for MySuper products over three years.
MySuper products are default superannuation products used in most workplaces. There is $675 billion invested into these products, making MySuper Australia's flagship superannuation sector.
Rainmaker's RMetrics Report also revealed EISS Super to be Australia's least volatile, that is the most stable and predictable MySuper product.
Club Plus had the lowest number of negative months over the past three years. When investing, a super fund may go backwards in some months, and Club Plus did this less than any other MySuper product in the market.
| Rank |
Highest three-year return p.a. |
Lowest standard deviation |
Fewest negative returns |
Combined Risk Adjustment Rank |
| 1 |
Hostplus |
EISS Super |
Club Plus |
HESTA |
| 2 |
AustralianSuper |
Maritime Super |
CareSuper |
Hostplus |
| 3 |
Media Super |
ESSSuper |
Intrust Super |
Cbus |
| 4 |
Club Plus |
Super SA Select |
Hostplus |
Media Super |
| 5 |
UniSuper |
BUSSQ |
ESSSuper |
NGS Super |
| Source: Rainmaker RMetrics Report Vol. 01 No.02 |
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These results demonstrate how important it is for Australia's MySuper products to not only strive to maximise returns, but to do so by containing, but not eliminating, risk.
The RMetrics Report also shows that sometimes lower returns are not a sign of a poor performer. Some MySuper products have been designed to minimise risks, avoid negative returns and the protect capital of its members.
The report also dispels many of the myths around superannuation investing, namely that to achieve high returns MySuper products need to take lots of risks.
Rainmaker's Executive Director of Research, Alex Dunnin, said "only five of Australia's most volatile MySuper products achieved above average returns. Funds and members should never be afraid of risk, but shouldn't go looking for it either."
"Proving the point, Australia's top 10 MySuper products achieved this milestone by taking only average risks," he added.
Dunnin said the important take-away from the report is that super funds and their members shouldn't only consider the final return figure, they also need to be aware of the consistency of returns over time, which is particularly important for members nearing retirement.
"Certain funds have shown they are capable of protecting the capital of their members while also achieving strong returns," said Dunnin.
As the world's investment markets look to be approaching a difficult period, super fund members will be looking to the managers of their MySuper products to be on guard to look after their money, Dunnin explained.
Super funds need to communicate these investment strengths and members need to invest into MySuper products they believe can meet their investment goals.
