Surprising impact of Trump's turmoil
Australian superannuation has surprisingly held up in April, but members are being warned they'll need to put up with wild swings in asset values in the months to come.
Figures released by Super Ratings shows the median superannuation funds eked out a small positive return of 0.4 per cent for the month of April.
The small gain came despite a wild month, with shares cratering following the US President's sweeping tariff policy, reaching a low on April 7, before rebounding sharply after April 9 when Mr Trump announced a 90 day pause on tariffs. Superannuation members are surprisingly up in April, despite global sharemarkets falling. NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar Credit: NewsWire
Super Ratings executive director Kirby Rappell warned Australians will need to learn to live with volatility over the next period.
'Members that panicked and switched options or withdrew funds may have missed out on this rebound and we continue to encourage a long-term mindset around superannuation,' Mr Rappell said.
According to Super Ratings the median growth option gained an estimated 0.4 per cent for the month, while the median capital stable option is estimated to have gained 0.6 per cent.
In April the Australian sharemarket outperformed its global peers, up 3.6 per cent for the month.
But global shares slumped, with the US S & P 500 fell 0.7 per cent and the MSCI World ex-Australian index slumped 1.84 per cent for the month of April in Australian dollar terms.
This follows a rough March for members when the median superannuation balance are estimated to have fallen by 1.9 per cent.
Despite the volatility, those invested in the median balanced option returns are back to where they were at the start of January and are still up 6 per cent for the financial year to date.
Mr Rappell said despite the volatile sharemarket, Australians benefited from diversification across asset classes, with around 45 per cent of money invested in non-share assets.
'We saw a strong response from markets to the announcement of tariffs by the US early in the month, which resulted in superannuation returns bouncing around much more than usual' Mr Rappell said. The ASX 200 was one of the few markets to finish April in the green. Photo: Gaye Gerard / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia
'Importantly, the large declines seen at the beginning of the month were quickly regained as tariffs were paused, reinforcing the difficulty of timing the market.'
Mr Rappell warned the markets could remain volatile for a while to come.
'The pause on tariffs, we continue to believe there will be ups and downs over the coming months, however funds have consistently demonstrated their ability to navigate changing markets and provide strong long-term outcomes for members,' Mr Rappell said.
'Setting and sticking to a long-term strategy remains the best approach to achieving long term success and we encourage any member thinking of changing their strategy to seek advice from their fund or a trusted financial adviser.'
Superannuation members in the pension returns also saw similarly subdued over April, with the median balanced pension option gaining an estimated 0.7 per cent.
The median capital stable pension option is estimated to have risen by 0.8 per cent over the month while the median growth pension option is estimated to rise 0.7 per cent for the same period.
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