When choosing how to invest your super, it’s helpful to understand our investment options’ objectives.
Key points:
- An investment objective is the return the investment option aims to achieve.
- Investment objectives can’t predict how much money your investments will make. But they can give you an idea of the expected return of your investment.
- We use investment objectives to keep track of our options’ performance.
- We regularly review our investment objectives and may change them from time to time.
What is an investment objective?
An investment objective is the desired investment return of an investment option.
Every option has an objective. Objectives vary depending on the investment mix and level of risk of the option.
You can view the investment objective of each investment option here or in the relevant Product Disclosure Statement or Handbook.
Information about our investment objectives
We offer a range of investment options. This includes diversified options, which invest in a mix of asset types, and single asset class options which invest in one asset class only. The investment objectives differ for these two option types, as described below.
Diversified investment options
For our diversified investment options, the investment objective is to deliver a return above the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over rolling 10-year periods.
The Consumer Price Index, or CPI, is Australia’s main measure of inflation. It measures the percentage change in the price of commonly used products and services like food, housing, clothing, transport and healthcare. It’s used to measure the change in the cost of living. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s average annual inflation rate over the past 25 years has been 2.8%.1
1 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Data Downloads, TABLES 1 and 2. CPI: All Groups, Index Numbers and Percentage Change, CPI Australia 30 June 2023.
Single asset class investment options
The investment objectives for our single asset class options include a benchmark.
A benchmark (also known as an index) tracks the performance of a specific group of investments such as shares or bonds.
The benchmarks we use are different for each single asset class investment option. This is because they depend on the asset class and geography of the option’s investments. For overseas investments, the benchmark will also depend on whether the investments are hedged. Hedged investments are protected against the impact of currency fluctuations on returns.
For our Australian Shares and International Shares options, we use custom benchmarks.
Australian Shares and International Shares custom benchmarks
We use custom benchmarks for our Australian Shares and International Shares options.
These benchmarks:
- exclude our fund-wide restrictions/exclusions in relation to tobacco, thermal coal and controversial weapons2
- exclude, or have a reduced weighting to, the most carbon intensive companies. These companies are identified using emissions and fossil fuel reserves data.
Our custom benchmarks are rebalanced each quarter, so they can change over time.
2 Note that the tobacco and thermal coal exclusions are subject to materiality thresholds. Refer to the "Responsible Ownership" section of the relevant Product Disclosure Statement or Handbook for more information.
MySuper Lifecycle approach and investment objectives
If you open a Future Saver account and don't make an investment choice, your super will be invested in our MySuper Lifecycle approach.
Members invested in MySuper Lifecycle are moved through 11 different stages. Like our diversified investment options, each of these stages has its own CPI+ objective.
You can view the investment objective of each lifecycle stage in the "Lifecycle stage profiles" section of the Investment and Fees Handbook (PDF, 3.1MB).
Where to next?
Understand investment basics
Super is a long-term investment for your future. Understanding how investments work can help you make sense of your investment choices.
Check your investments
Did you know you can check and switch your investments through your Member Online account?
Need guidance or advice?
We offer a range of options to suit your needs. Our experienced planners can help improve the way you manage your money and plan for your future.