I’m pleased to provide this update to TelstraSuper members on investment performance for the three months to 30 September 2024.

I’m delighted to report that it’s been a good start to the new financial year, with positive investment performance across all our investment options.

This slide shows how TelstraSuper’s investment options have performed for accumulation members for periods to 30 September 2024.   You can see that returns for our diversified investment options were between 2.5% and 3.6% for the three-month period to 30 September, and as high 16.2% for the full twelve-month period for our new High Growth investment option.    Our single sector options also performed well, with the Australian Shares option being the top performer – delivering a return of 7.3% for the quarter and 21.5% for the year to 30 September.   These returns are net of all investment taxes and investment fees.  

Returns have been similar, but generally even higher for the RetireAccess options for our retired members who have account-based pensions.   For example, you can see from this slide that our Lifestyle Balanced option delivered 3.7% for the quarter and 12.9% for the full year.  
Remember that you can visit our website any time to get up-to-date information on our investment returns and to see how our unit prices change on a daily basis.

The main driver of these strong returns was an easing in inflation, enabling central banks in many regions, including the United States, the UK and Europe to start reducing interest rates.   This, combined with continued high levels of employment, has bolstered the confidence of investors across the world.   And at the end of the quarter, investment markets received another boost when the Chinese government announced measures to stimulate their sagging economy and investment markets.

As often happens, the positive trend in investment markets during the quarter was briefly disrupted by periods of volatility, such as when the Bank of Japan raised interest rates and weaker-than-expected US jobs data was released.  Although share markets dipped in response, they quickly recovered their losses. 

Looking forward, the outlook for economies and investment markets is similar to earlier this year and we are cautiously optimistic that we may avoid a recession.  For now, our asset allocation settings are close to their long-term strategic positions, reflecting a range of possible outcomes for economies and markets without a strong preference for any particular scenario. We continue to monitor employment, economic growth and geopolitics to help guide our thinking whilst staying alert to both emerging opportunities and risks.

PAUSE 

Before we wrap up - in this and future videos - I’ll spend a few minutes highlighting some of our new or interesting investments. This time round I’d like to introduce a recent investment we made a couple of months ago in our infrastructure asset class.
The investment is in a fund managed by Quinbrook, called the Net-Zero Power Fund.   As its name implies, this fund invests in renewable energy assets and associated industries. These include solar power plants and battery storage facilities, as well as data centres that use renewable energy for part of their power needs.

We like this investment because it is at the intersection of two powerful themes that, in our view, are likely to grow and potentially generate attractive returns for our members in the medium term.   The first theme is renewable energy – as the world transitions away from burning fossil fuels to generate energy, this will increasingly be replaced by renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.   

And the second theme is data centres. which have experienced a surge in demand as the use of artificial intelligence technologies continues to grow.  

To bring this investment to life, here’s a picture of the Supernode battery project that Quinbrook is currently developing about 20 kilometres north of Brisbane.   It is planned that this battery will be able to store about 2,500 megawatt hours of power.   Quinbrook has entered into an agreement with Origin Energy to buy 1,500 megawatt hours of power of this capacity. The first stages of this project are expected to become operational in late 2025. 

We think that the value of this project will continue to grow, and at some point in the future we expect that Quinbrook will sell this asset at a profit for investors, including TelstraSuper members.

This is just one of example of the assets in this new fund – others include a data centre platform and an integration solar power and battery platform.  

I’ll have more news on exciting investment developments in my next update. 

Please remember past performance is not a reliable indicator 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. 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.