Excellent returns in 2022-23, despite recession fears
Ed Tomlinson outlines smartMonday’s strong results for the past financial year.
smartMonday recorded outstanding performance in the 2022-23 financial year, taking a leading industry position, particularly across balanced and growth options.
Our MySuper option for 40-year-olds gained 11.3% in the 12 months to the end of June 2023, and 10.9% for those aged 45.
Our Balanced Growth – Index option gained 9.8% in the year, while the Active version of that option returned 8.4%.
These are very attractive returns, with performance in some options comparable to the best in other funds.
smartMonday superannuation investment performance to 30 June 2023 (%)
Super option
10 years p.a.
7 years p.a.
5 years p.a.
3 years p.a.
1 year p.a.
3 months p.a.
MySuper age 40
N/O
8.2
6.6
8.3
11.3
2.5
MySuper age 45
N/O
8.0
6.3
7.7
10.9
2.3
High Growth - Index
9.3
8.9
7.6
10.7
14.3
3.8
Growth - Index
8.3
7.7
6.7
8.5
12.0
3.0
Balanced Growth - Index
7.1
6.4
5.6
6.5
9.8
2.2
Defensive - Index
1.6
0.7
0.6
-0.6
2.3
-0.4
- Notes: Data to June 30, 2023. PA = per annum (indicating annualised returns over that period). FYTD = financial year to date. N/O = product not offered in this time period. The performance returns shown above are calculated net of investment fees and transaction costs and an allowance for tax on investment income. The returns are based on unit prices of each investment option calculated as at the end of the month. Unit prices are based on the latest available investment valuations at the time of calculation, which means they could be one or two days behind the current market indices. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
For full performance results, including our pension options, visit the investment returns section of our website.
Among the industry's best results
To give you perspective on our performance compared with other funds, a number of our options were listed in SuperRatings’ recently released Top 10 Super Funds review – meaning they ranked among the best in the industry for returns to the end of June 2023.
smartMonday’s International Shares – Diversified option, which returned 19.8% in the financial year, ranked among the top 10 over one and three-year periods.
Our Australian Shares – Diversified option ranked among the top 10 over a three-year period.
smartMonday’s Fixed Interest – Diversified option was among the top 10 for one and three-year return periods also.
What's turning things around?
These results are a tale of two halves. The last six months of 2022 and the first six months of 2023.
I won’t dwell too much on what happened last year. It was a period of mostly poor performance with negative results across most investment markets. That was down to inflation, repercussions from the war in Ukraine, and increasing fear of recession.
While all these issues continued into 2023, investors’ confidence improved as economies kept growing and energy prices stabilised. An impressive rally in the sharemarket was the result, boosting performance across most of our options.
But for 2023-24 we’re not sure this performance will continue. A recession remains likely, particularly in some overseas markets. And so we continue to manage our investments to defend against that likelihood.
Want to talk about investments?
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- Phone a smartCoach: 1300 262 241
- Email: smartcoach@smartmonday.com.au
- Read our How to choose your investments article