Are you in a Balanced fund? The majority of industry and retail superfunds will offer you a multi-asset option, that may be labelled as ‘balanced’, ‘conservative’, and ‘growth’. However, there are no mandates or regulations that superannuation funds have to follow when putting these portfolios together.

Our chart of the week (which is technically a table) comes from Morningstar’s Superannuation Landscape Report. It shows the discrepancies between the ‘Balanced’ funds available, and how their asset allocations differ significantly.

Superannuation Multisetor Growth Exposure Bands and Labeling Conventions

Why this matters

Roger Ibbotson, a Professor of Finance, author and founder of Ibbotson Associates summed up asset allocation decisions pretty well. He said that on average, 90 per cent of the variability of returns, and 100 per cent of the absolute level of return is explained by asset allocation.

What Ibbotson meant by this is that the mix of assets that you have in your portfolio is a key factor in your returns. Asset allocation is a tight rope for superfunds. They have to remain scalable, while appealing to the risk and return expectations of different life stages, incomes, and objectives.

It’s important to understand the asset allocation mix of your super as it will determine your retirement outcomes. If you’ve never reviewed your super before, it is likely that you have been placed in the ‘balanced’ option. AustralianSuper, Australia’s largest superfund, has over 90% of their members in the Balanced Option.

I’ve written previously on why it’s important to get your asset allocation right at a young age. I’ve modelled the marked difference it can have on your outcomes. It can result in hundreds of thousands less at retirement if you don’t get this right early in your career. It can also result in unnecessary risk for older Australians that are too exposed to aggressive assets, even as they are drawing down on them in retirement.

Even if you are in a ‘balanced’ fund and you feel that it is right for you, take a deeper look at the assets it actually holds. As the research from Morningstar’s new report shows, the name isn’t always reflective of what’s under the hood.  

If you’d like to see more from the report, my colleague Joseph Taylor has picked out 7 of the most eye-catching charts from the report here.

Morningstar Investor subscribers can access the full Mergers and Megafunds: The Superannuation Landscape in 2024 report here.

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