APRA releases new superannuation fund-level performance data

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 The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has today released performance data for individual superannuation funds, covering the five-year period from 2004 to 2008.

The performance data for APRA-regulated funds — with the exception of small APRA funds, single-member approved deposit funds, exempt public sector superannuation schemes and pooled superannuation trusts — are published in two versions on the APRA website http://www.apra.gov.au/:

1. Superannuation fund-level rates of return presents three-year and five-year performance information on the 200 largest funds by asset size — which cover 95 per cent of members and 98 per cent of the assets of APRA-regulated funds — as well as eligible rollover funds (ERFs). This is available in both PDF and Excel format.
2. Superannuation fund-level profiles and financial performance is available in Excel format only and contains detailed data for each financial year from 2004 to 2008. The detailed data allow observers to analyse the superannuation funds across a range of measures (subject to privacy considerations).

APRA has released the fund-level performance data following industry discussions about the publication of more disaggregated data that looked at individual superannuation funds, rather than the industry as a whole or sections of the industry. The Government also requested that APRA consider how it might publish performance data at the individual fund level.

Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, trustees of superannuation funds must formulate an investment strategy for the benefit of all members of the fund. The performance data released today, much of which are available through financial statements and annual reports, support APRA’s objective to promote transparency and accountability.

APRA Deputy Chairman Ross Jones said that the fund-level data will assist superannuation trustees and other interested parties to assess the relative performance of the long-term investment strategies adopted by each trustee for their funds.

‘We expect this whole-of-fund performance information will improve public understanding of the superannuation industry, encourage trustees to demonstrate that they can provide superannuation benefits over the long-term and provide better measures of the overall relative performance of their funds,’ he said.

It is important to keep in mind that the information is not intended to be used for assessing short-term returns. Any super data should be viewed considering the longer-term performance of funds.  

Tagged as: Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Funds, Rate of return, superannuation

Article by Christie Lewis

Christie is Practice Manager at Alan Lewis Accountants . Besides accounting, her passion is for all things small business (and blogging, of course). You can contact Christie directly at christie@lewistaxation.com.au.

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