Here at ANZ Staff Super, we focus on building diverse portfolios. These portfolios are built to be robust over a range of market conditions and to deliver strong returns over the long term.
Our three core investment strategies are:
- Leveraging the 'equity risk premium'
- Investing at a risk level that’s appropriate for our members
1. Diversification
Diversification is about spreading investments across different asset classes and across different fund managers. Diversification lowers risk because different asset classes do well at different times.
2. Leveraging the 'equity risk premium'.
This is the belief that investors will be rewarded over the long term for the risk of investing in shares compared to very low risk investments like cash. As you can see from the chart below, equities, in this case Australian equities, have outperformed other investment classes like cash or fixed interest over the long term, despite market falls along the way. It is extremely difficult to predict exactly when the stock market will go up and down. That’s why staying invested over the long term is widely considered the best approach.
While we view equities as a key contributor to member outcomes over the long term, this does mean that falling stock markets will impact members' balances in the short term. While the media headlines focus on market falls, ultimately the risk you face is not just short-term volatility, but the long-term risk of not having an income at retirement that meets your needs.
Source: Willis Towers Watson
3. Investing at a risk level that’s appropriate for our members.
We believe in balancing investing for strong returns with taking an appropriate amount of risk.
The average age of an ANZ Staff Super member in our accumulation sections is 45. Some funds with very young membership profiles offer a higher risk MySuper (default) option. Greater risk exposure means they may do better in strong markets, but can fall hard in poor ones.
We’re committed to taking an appropriate amount of risk for our members, which is why our Balanced Growth option is structured the way it is. Typically around 60% of the Balanced Growth option is invested in shares and property and around 20% in alternative assets and around 20% in fixed interest securities and cash. That is our default option and where most members are invested.
You are not limited to just one of the options; members who are looking to customise their portfolio from a risk perspective can select any combination of each of our three pre-mixed investment options. You can combine options and/or choose to direct your future contributions to a different option or combination of options than how your accumulated super is invested. This allows members greater choice in how their super is invested beyond the three pre-mixed options available.
Investment manager appointments
ANZ Staff Super’s investments are managed by professional investment managers. The Trustee is responsible for manager selection and monitoring their performance.
The following table shows the asset classes that ANZ Staff Super invests in and the investment managers appointed to each asset class.
Note that this information is correct as at June 2024
Net zero
At ANZ Staff Super we're committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions from our investments by 2050. You can find out more
here.