Where the money is... Spotlight on the top 5 balanced options

Top 5 Performers

At least 70% of working age Australians have their money invested in the balanced option of their super fund. To find out which funds have been the top performers for that option over the last five years, Industry Moves used the SuperRatings online Top 10 Returns tool, had a close look at the top five and then did a little more research of our own...


Snapshot of the Top 5

Snapshot of the Top 5

2.9m..........Members in the balanced option
$138b.......Dollars currently invested
10...............Average years served by the CIO

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Top 5 Performing Super Funds

"Meet the CIOs and hear what they have to say..."

John Pearce John Pearce - CIO, UniSuper
John Pearce took up the role of chief investment officer at UniSuper in 2009, after a two year stint as head of global asset management for Chinese insurer, Ping An, based in Hong Kong. From 2000 to 2006, he worked at Colonial First State, commencing as general manager of investments and taking over as chief executive officer after the departure of Chris Cuffe at the beginning of 2003. He has over 30 years' experience in the financial services industry.

Quote On the success of UniSuper's performance over the last 5 years, Pearce said:
"The main drivers of the performance have been: Spending time getting the macro picture right, particularly the search for yield; Heavily weighting our offshore exposure to high quality US companies; and the fast growing tech sector."

Trish Donohue Trish Donohue - Executive Manager, Investments, Cbus
Trish Donohue joined Cbus in 2000 as the fund's executive manager, investments. Prior to this she worked at Mercer for 11 years, initially in actuarial analyst roles in Melbourne and Auckland, before taking on the role of investment consultant in Melbourne for three and a half years. At Mercer she provided investment advice to a number of corporate and industry superannuation funds.

Kristian Fok Kristian Fok - Executive Manager, Investment Strategy, Cbus
Kristian Fok joined Cbus as the fund's executive manager, investment strategy in 2012. Previously, he spent 13 years at Frontier Advisors, where he served as Cbus' advisor and held the roles of senior consultant, deputy managing director, and deputy director of consulting. Before this, he was a consulting actuary at Buck Consultants.

Quote On the success of Cbus' performance over the last 5 years, Fok said:
"Cbus' performance is due to a range of factors including asset allocation decisions, investment managers and investing in the built environment, which not only provides strong long-term investment returns, but helps boost the economy and create jobs within the construction industry. Our strong investment performance is made possible by our talented (and growing) investment team. This combination of factors was recognised recently when Cbus received the 2016 Smart Investor Blue Ribbon Award for Best Balanced Super Fund."

David O David O'Sullivan - CEO/CIO, BUSSQ
David O'Sullivan took up the joint role of chief executive officer and chief investment officer (CIO) of BUSSQ in January 2005 and will move into the sole role of CIO in October 2016. Prior to joining BUSSQ he spent 10 years as head of investment consulting at Sedgwick Noble Lowndes.

Quote On the success of BUSSQ's performance over the last 5 years, O'Sullivan said:
"Some reasons are: Successful active asset allocation; Belief in the benefits of active management and we are not hampered by capacity constraints; Prepared to be patient and counter cyclical investors not influenced by fads; Early adopters in the unlisted asset classes when assets were not over priced; Nimble governance structure and can make decisions quickly; and a Strong focus on managing downside risk."

Sam Sicilia Sam Sicilia - CIO, HOSTPLUS
Sam Sicilia joined HOSTPLUS as the fund's chief investment officer in 2008. Prior to this, he worked for two years at Russell Investments as director of investment consulting. Sicilia entered the finance industry from academia in 1994 and has held a number of senior finance roles throughout his career, including senior manager at Bank of Ireland Asset Management, senior consultant with Frontier Investment Consulting and senior asset consultant with Towers Perrin. In his academic life he spent nearly seven years as a senior lecturer in business modelling at Swinburne University of Technology.

Quote On the success of HOSTPLUS' performance over the last 5 years, Sicilia said:
"The Fund has a young member demographic (average age 32) which permits a long-term investment horizon; The Fund has strong net cash inflow which allows us to take advantage of most investment opportunities; The Fund has a high tolerance for illiquid assets due to its members not retiring any time soon; The Fund has an outstanding Board of Trustee Directors that understands Hostplus' natural advantages and the Fund's long-term investment horizon, and is prepared to invest in unlisted assets; The Fund maintains discipline with its Asset Allocation and the Board does not panic during market volatility and is prepared to deploy its strong cash inflow to take advantage of falling equity markets."

Mark Delaney Mark Delaney - CIO, AustralianSuper
Mark Delaney was appointed deputy chief executive and chief investments officer of AustralianSuper in 2006. Previously, he was chief executive of the Superannuation Trust of Australia (STA) for three years before its merger with ARF to form AustralianSuper. Before this, he worked with National Mutual/AXA for 14 years in various roles including as an economist and a senior manager of investment services. He also spent four years working as an economist in the Federal Department of Treasury.

Quote On the success of AustralianSuper's performance over the last 5 years, Delaney said:
"AustralianSuper's investment strategy is to maintain a diversified portfolio. In the last year, we've been looking to increase our exposure to unlisted assets, property and infrastructure, with the major focus being on buying global property. The Fund has also increased the size and talent of its internal investment team with the recruitment of top investments staff allowing us to cut costs and deliver saving to members.The internalisation of investments is on track to deliver annual savings of around $150 million."