Stop chasing last year's winners
And, in the Nine Newspapers this weekend "Super funds just delivered another stellar year. Is yours one of the best?"
In this edition: It’s a juicy one
Feature: What sort of investment returns does your retirement plan actually need?
From Bec’s Desk: On the road again.
The Age and Sydney Morning Herald: Super funds just delivered another stellar year. Is yours one of the best?
Prime Time: The retirement questions that keep Australians awake at night
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Stop chasing last year’s winners
Every July, the same thing happens. The annual super results land, someone’s fund tops the table, and half of Australia starts wondering whether they should switch. This year it’s Unisuper at the top of the table (which I announced in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday - see below), with a 12.3 per cent return for accumulation members and 13.1 per cent for those drawing a pension. Truly excellent numbers, and there’s real skill behind them.
But before you go chasing it, I want to make a case for looking at a different set of numbers altogether to evaluate whether your super is doing its job
One year returns do matter, to a point. A fund that keeps pace with the market each year is doing its job, and there’s nothing wrong with checking how your fund performed this year against its peers. Chant West’s data shows the median growth fund, the ones holding 61 to 80 per cent in growth assets, (not by whatever name appears in its branding, which can be a little misleading), returned 9.5 per cent for FY26. That follows 9.2 per cent in FY23, 9.1 per cent in FY24 and 10.4 per cent in FY25, which takes the cumulative return to an impressive 44 per cent over the past four years. That’s one of the best stretches super has ever had.
But there is a catch we all need to be aware of. Four years is the longest uninterrupted high performing stretch since 2002, and it last happened back in 2004 to 2007. What followed was two very negative years in a row. I’m not saying that’s about to happen again, nobody can know that, but it’s exactly why one year, or even four good years, was never designed to tell you which fund deserves your trust for the next thirty years.
I prefer you to stop and look at the ten year performance averages. What a ten year number gives you that a one year number simply can’t is a fund’s track record through an actual market cycle. It shows how the investment team handled a downturn, not just how they performed while everything was rising. Chant West’s own data backs this up. Since compulsory super began in 1992, the median growth fund has beaten its long term return objective in roughly 73 per cent of rolling ten year periods. That’s a track record Aussie super funds should be proud of.
Ultimately, it’s wise to look at both. This year’s leaders and the ten year leaders are answering two different questions. Unisuper’s result this year shows real strength right now. But the funds that have proven they can do this consistently over a full decade are Hostplus, Brighter Super and Australian Retirement Trust, (and note Unisuper also makes the top ten list over ten years) all of them delivering close to 9 per cent a year, on average, every year, for ten years straight. Both lists are worth knowing about and referring to. Neither one on its own tells you the whole story about which funds are performing well.
Part of the reason one year rankings shuffle so much comes down to what’s actually driving the number. This year, the funds that led the pack were mostly the ones with strong exposure to currency hedged international shares, since that’s where the real gains sat in FY26. A different year, with a different part of the market firing, and a different set of names ends up at the top. That’s not a knock on any fund’s skill, it’s just how markets work when different sectors take turns leading the run. A fund sitting mid-table this year isn’t necessarily doing anything wrong, it might just be holding a slightly different mix that hasn’t had its year yet.
So what do you actually do with all this? Check your fund’s ten year number, not just this year’s returns, and compare it against the median for your own risk category rather than the flashiest headline in the market.
And if you are tempted to switch based on this year’s results, factor in the fees too, and real cost of moving that might come from buy and sell spreads, and any retirement bonus that might be lost. And check the fund you’re choosing offers good retirement services with the Epic Retirement Tick.
Note: these are all accumulation numbers - I only have the top three for retirement as the data isn’t final yet. The top three growth funds (61-80% growth assets) in the retirement phase for 2025/26 are:
Hostplus Balanced Fund 10.1%
CSC Aggressive 9.9%
Brighter Super Balanced Fund 9.8%
Want to read more, I have two books - How to Have an Epic Retirement and if you’re not ready for retirement, Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife.
Short and sweet this week. You’ve heard most of my opinions on social media - where I’ve put out quite a few reels. The biggest, a rant about the articles the media ran on the family home being about to be included in the Assets Test - that really made me mad watching the media clickbait everyone. (It’s not true BTW - it’s just a think tank’s polarising views).
Then, onto the Superfund Performance for 2025/26 which I’ve done a little series on this weekend. Head on over to Facebook where I’m about to pass through 100,000 followers (exciting moment for me!) to watch these little videos regulary - I try to do a few each week and the topics are varied. I’m also on Instagram here.
I’ve also kept going on my new gym program, progressive lifting. It hurts the first few times you try it. But that pain and the muscle growth that comes from pushing through it I’m hoping lead somewhere good.
A quick trip to Sydney and Melbourne was the big highlight of my week, speaking at the Lowe Living rightsizing events, meeting so many of our community members there too. I love that. I also dropped in on a few of the superfunds - terrific fun to find out what they are up to.
EPIC RETIREMENT COURSE - Our Epic Retirement Flagship Course is counting down to the last Earlybird spots. Then the price will go back to the RRP. The course kicks off on the 13th August - Not long now! So don’t delay - you know I want everyone to get the best deal available. Download a brochure here and book your place.
HESTA’S COURSE KICKS OFF THIS WEEK - HESTA’s Epic Retirement 6 week course has been specially built for HESTA members. This progam is enrolling now for kickoff on the 24th July (and it’s free for HESTA members). If you’re a HESTA member you can sign up, but only while places last. Check it out here.
AWARE SUPER - EVENT ONLINE - Lastly, this week I’m speaking at the Aware Super Couples Retirement event (online). If you’re an Aware member - make sure you’ve registered via their website.
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And that’s it - have a ripper Sunday!
Cheers - Bec
Author, podcast host, columnist, retirement educator, and guest speaker
Super funds just delivered another stellar year. Is yours one of the best?
If you had a growth option sitting inside your super fund over the past four years, you’re probably pretty pleased with yourself right now. The annual performance results are coming in for growth superannuation funds in both the accumulation and pension phase for 2025-26, and it’s clear that many of our super funds have had another stellar year.
It’s the fourth in a row, and it’s been driven chiefly by international shares, particularly for those funds with solid currency hedging along the way.
The data, reported by superannuation research firm Chant West, shows that the median one-year returns from growth funds (which they classify as funds with 61 per cent to 80 per cent invested in growth assets) is 9.5 per cent for FY26 for funds in the accumulation phase and 10.8 per cent for funds in pension phase.
The gap between the returns in accumulation and retirement or pension phase isn’t a fluke. Pension fund performance is higher because superannuation in the retirement phase is tax-free. It’s one of the most generous perks in the retirement system, and yet many Australians over 60 and eligible haven’t got around to switching their account over to take advantage of it.
So who came out on top in 2025-26? The top-performing growth fund for the last year was Unisuper, across both accumulation and pension. It delivered a 12.3 per cent return on the accumulation fund, and 13.1 per cent returns on the pension fund.
They are followed closely by a tie for second spot, between NGS Super Diversified, and CFS Firstchoice Growth Fund, both with 11.5 per cent returns on accumulation and 12.4 per cent on pension.
And in third spot in accumulation funds was the Hostplus Balanced Fund, with 10.8 per cent returns in accumulation. At third spot in the retirement phase was AMP Balanced fund, with 11.9 per cent returns.
Zoom out a little further and the numbers get even more impressive. Growth funds in Australia in the accumulation phase have provided median returns of 44 per cent on a cumulative basis over the past four years, giving some of the most consistent returns in superannuation’s history.
This article continues… It is published in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday 18th July 2026. Read the whole article here, without a paywall.
The retirement questions that keep Australians awake at night
One of the things I’ve learnt after thousands of conversations with people over the years is that most Australians aren’t lying awake at night wondering whether they should have 60% or 70% invested in growth assets.
They’re asking much bigger questions: Will I have enough? When can I stop working? How much can I safely spend? What happens if markets fall? Am I making a mistake?
The problem is that most people start with their super balance and hope it’ll somehow give them the answers. But I think we should start with our life instead.
In this week’s episode of Prime Time, I work through some of the biggest retirement questions I hear every day and share the practical exercises that can help you answer them with confidence.
I’m also joined by Lisa Kay, Chief Member Officer at Brighter Super, to discuss why getting guidance doesn’t have to mean signing up for a comprehensive financial plan. Sometimes it’s simply about asking the right questions at the right time and knowing where to go for help.
Retirement isn’t one big decision. It’s a series of decisions made over many years. And the earlier you start asking the right questions, the more choices you’ll have when the time comes.
LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST HERE:
Australian Super (High) Growth also had a good year with 11.573% return but they are not in Chant West’s list. Casts doubt about how good their research is.
The top 10 performing Balanced superannuation options over the decade to December 2025, as ranked by SuperRatings, are dominated by member-owned industry funds:
Hostplus – Balanced: 8.70% p.a.
Australian Retirement Trust (ART) – Super Savings Balanced: 8.50% p.a.
Hostplus – Indexed Balanced: 8.30% p.a.
AustralianSuper – Balanced: 8.20% p.a.
UniSuper – Balanced: 8.10% p.a.
Vision Super – Balanced Growth: 8.10% p.a.
HESTA – Balanced Growth: 8.00% p.a.
Cbus – Growth (MySuper): 8.00% p.a.
Aware Super – Future Saver Balanced: 8.00% p.a.
Not sure why Australian Super is always ignored?