Industry funds feast, retail funds snack, corporate funds freefall

APRA's quarterly superannuation statistics have lifted the lid on the ongoing battle for Australia's retirement assets; industry funds charged forward, retail funds made gains without breaking into a sprint, while corporate funds retreated further.

Industry funds expanded their war chest by $136 billion, retail funds added $45.6 billion, while corporate funds continued their retreat, shedding $10.3 billion, according to the prudential regulator. Self-managed super funds (SMSFs), meanwhile, banked $26.1 billion, as of 31 March 2025.

Industry funds command $1.49 trillion, retail funds hold $798.3 billion, corporate funds, which have reduced to four entities, account for $36.4 billion, while SMSFs sit at $1 trillion.

Total superannuation assets hit $4.1 trillion, up from $3.9 trillion a year prior, a 5% increase, though they dipped 0.8% over the quarter.

Total contributions rose from $177.2 billion to $202.8 billion over the year, a 14.5% jump.

For the March quarter, however, contributions came in at $46.8 billion - by comparison, they were $23.8 billion a decade ago and just $12.1 billion 20 years ago.

Of the $202.8 billion in contributions, employer contributions totalled $147.1 billion, whereas member contributions made up $55.7 billion.

Benefit payments climbed to $127.5 billion over the year as a result of lump sum payments increasing to $70 billion and pension payments rising to $57.6 billion.

Separately, over the year to March 31, the best-performing default investment options were Colonial First State's Essential Super Employer - Lifestage (1980-1984) and FirstChoice Employer - FirstChoice Lifestage (1980-1984), each delivering a 7.4% return, according to Rainmaker Information.

Next came AMP Signature Super - AMP MySuper 1980s (6.6%), Vanguard Super SaveSmart - Lifecycle Age 47 and under (6.5%), and Virgin Money SED - LifeStage Tracker 1984-1988.

Interestingly, every top performing MySuper product was a lifecycle fund, with retail funds ruling the roost and a lone corporate fund squeezing into the top five.

Over 10 years, however, industry funds kept a firm grip on the leaderboard.

Aware Super's Employer Sponsored - High Growth led with a 7.8% annualised return, followed by Hostplus - Balanced (7.7%), Team Super - High Growth (7.6%), Australian Retirement Trust - Lifecycle Balanced Pool (7.3%), and AustralianSuper - Balanced (7.2%).