Your super performance – a strong year for investment returns
July 13, 2023
It's been a strong financial year for investment returns, with TelstraSuper’s latest results confirming the benefits of portfolio diversification for members.
Investment update
Our diversified investment options delivered solid gains to members this financial year, buoyed by the strong performance of local and global sharemarkets.
Despite periods of volatility due to ongoing economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, share-market investors responded positively to signs that inflation might be easing off, allowing reserve banks to slow down the pace of their interest rate rises. Similarly, many companies were able to shrug off a slowing economy and continue to grow their revenues and profits, which boosted investors' confidence.
By contrast, the high interest rate environment proved challenging for fixed interest and property investments, leading to a general softening in demand for these assets. Office and retail property also continued to be negatively impacted by the change in working and retail patterns in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
The financial year that has just passed provides another example of the benefits of a well-diversified portfolio. By having exposure to a range of diverse assets across many different industries and countries, we have, once again, been able to deliver strong returns to our members. Managing risk through diversification is one of our most important investment strategies.
Our Chief Investment Officer, Graeme Miller, provides an update on markets in this video.
Pleasing performance
Every one of our investment options delivered a positive return for the year, with the strongest returns coming from our International Shares and Australian Shares options. In contrast, returns from our Property and Fixed Interest options were more modest.
Our Growth investment option earned 11.53%, our Balanced investment option earned 9.34% and our Conservative investment option delivered 4.81% over the one year period to 30 June 2023. These returns are net of all investment taxes and investment fees. Similarly, retired members invested in our RetireAccess diversified options also enjoyed strong performance, with Lifestyle Growth returning 11.46%, Lifestyle Balanced returning 9.73% and Lifestyle Conservative 4.73% over the one-year period to 30 June 2023.
Returns to 30 June 2023
Accumulation (Corporate Plus, Personal Plus & TTR income stream)
| Option | 1 Year | 5 Years | 10 Years |
| Growth | 11.53% | 7.31% | 8.86% |
| Balanced | 9.34% | 6.22% | 7.73% |
| Conservative | 4.81% | 3.91% |
5.34% |
TelstraSuper Retirement income stream
| Option | 1 Year | 5 Years | 10 years |
| Lifestyle Growth | 11.46% | 8.26% | 9.79% |
| Lifestyle Balanced | 9.73% | 7.00% | 8.62% |
| Lifestyle Conservative | 4.73% | 4.43% | 5.95% |
The following shows the performance of our three main accumulation diversified options over several periods. This shows what $100,000 would be worth if you invested it over the following periods.
Growth of $100,000 if invested over 1, 5, 10 and 20 years.
| Growth of $100,000 if invested over 1, 5, 10 and 20 years | 1 Year (invested on 30 June 2022) | 5 Years (invested on 30 June 2018) | 10 Years (invested on 30 June 2013) | 20 Years (invested on 30 June 2003) |
| Growth | $111,530 | $142,299 | $233,713 | $491,776 |
| Balanced | $109,340 | $135,217 | $210,556 | $444,985 |
| Conservative | $104,810 | $121,140 | $168,242 | $315,907 |
Looking ahead
Looking ahead to the investment opportunities and challenges we might expect in the next 12 months, we will be closely monitoring the direction of interest rates and geopolitical tensions around the world.
Our current central view is that interest rates have yet to peak, and we will likely continue to see high inflation, even if it does reduce slightly. High inflation, combined with high interest rates, would put pressure on households and businesses, and may slow down economic activity.
We’re also wary of the geopolitical tensions that we see between Russia and Ukraine, and between the United States and China. There’ll be a presidential election in the US towards the end of 2024, so we’re also watching for any market uncertainty as a result.
Considering this overall outlook, we’ve entered the new financial year with somewhat cautiously positioned portfolios. In our diversified investment options, our exposure to shares is slightly lower than our long-term targets. At the same time, we’ve increased our targeted holdings of diversified fixed interest, so we are no longer underweight in this asset class. We believe that this positioning is an appropriate strategy for the current environment, but as always, our team of investment professionals will continue to actively manage our investment portfolios, remaining alert to both opportunities and risks as they emerge.
Changes to our investment options effective 1 July 2023
From 1 July 2023, we’ve made a few changes to our investment options.
- For our accumulation members, we merged our Defensive Growth and Diversified Income options into a new option called Moderate. The Defensive Growth and Diversified Income options had similar strategies and identical objectives, so it made sense to consolidate them into a single option.
- Similarly, for our RetireAccess members, we merged the Defensive Growth option into the existing Lifestyle Moderate option. These changes happened automatically for members already invested in these options, and there’s nothing that those members need to do to remain invested in the newly merged options.
- We’ve also changed the name of our Fixed Interest option to Diversified Bonds and Credit. We made this change to provide a clearer description of the types of investments that this option invests in. Importantly, this is a name change only. The underlying strategy in this option has not changed at all.
You can find further details and information on these changes here.
Get help with your investments
As a member of TelstraSuper, you can receive phone-based advice about your investments at no additional cost as part of your membership. Book a call today.
Our Chief Investment Officer, Graeme Miller, will give an update on investment performance and answer some of the questions our members are asking at webinars and live presentations in major capital cities in August.
You can submit questions in advance, and we’ll look to answer these at the webinars or in future articles.
Please remember past performance is not indicative of future performance. This presentation contains factual information and general advice only, including information about financial products. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. You should consider whether it is appropriate having regard to your personal circumstances before making any financial decisions. Before making any investment decision, you should obtain and read the relevant product disclosure statement which is available on the TelstraSuper’s Website or by calling 1300 033 166 between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm (AEST) Monday to Friday. You may wish to consult an adviser before you make any decisions relating to your financial affairs. To speak with an Adviser from TelstraSuper Financial Planning call 1300 033 166.All returns displayed in this presentation are net of all applicable investment taxes and investment fees, but before the deduction of any applicable percentage-based administration fee, member fee or rebate.