How your super performed in 2024

smartMonday finished the 2024 calendar year with strong results, with our Balanced Growth Option among the top 10 performers for the year* with a stellar return of 12.8%. Several smartMonday options delivered returns well in excess of 10% for 2024, including Growth and High Growth which returned 15% and 17.8% respectively.

Here’s everything you need to know about how the economy and share markets impacted your super.

Of course, one of the biggest stories of 2024 was US President Donald Trump’s election in November. While not everyone was happy to see Trump return for a second term, stock markets appeared to see the upside.

The market surged following the election on expectations of continued US economic growth, boosted profits and a friendlier environment for business deals from US deregulation.

The immediate beneficiaries were companies set to benefit from lighter regulation and the imposition of tariffs on US imports. For example, Tesla is poised to benefit from the tariffs Trump has committed to imposing on Chinese electric vehicles and its CEO’s proximity to Trump.  

Last year’s impressive global returns were driven largely by US tech while AI-driven innovation fuelled gains. However, the Trump effect combined with uncertainty over interest rates fuelled volatility in the final quarter. Big Tech (excluding Tesla) was particularly hard hit, with investors appearing unsure what a Trump presidency would mean for these firms.

Alongside tech, businesses heavily reliant on US government spending or vulnerable to tariff increases, such as steelmakers and the healthcare sector saw share prices slump.

In Australia too, share markets finished the year on a bit of a muted note mainly due to a struggling materials sector, particularly iron ore, which suffered from decreasing demand from China’s construction industry. Our small domestic tech sector also struggled. Still, despite these wobbles Australian equities managed to return double digits.

Here in Australia, while unemployment is low, and inflation has fallen to within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) target level, the economy remains in a delicate position.

Inflation dropped faster than the RBA expected, so with cautious optimism it decided in February to lower the cash rate by 0.25% to 4.10%. This is the first rate drop since November 2020, and it could impact everything from mortgage rates to stock market performance. Lower rates generally make borrowing cheaper, boosting spending and investment.

The rate cut reflects a cautious sense of optimism about recent progress, while also highlighting the importance of keeping a close eye on global economic trends, domestic demand, and inflation patterns. The RBA will continue to assess potential risks to the economy including Trump’s trade war, which may contribute to a weakening Australian dollar due to our trade exposure to China.

Can Trump change the fortunes of the US economy? He certainly says he will. The truth is the US economy is already performing strongly. Despite elevated company valuations we continue to favour the US stock markets.  

These elevated valuations remain a risk that is highly sensitive to movements in interest rates. In the US and Australia, we’re facing a similar problem: inflation continues to fall but is not yet fully under control. And strong employment markets also constrain the ability of the RBA and The US Fed to slash rates.

Comments from these central banks affirm they have a data driven approach to making decisions and not surprisingly they appear to have little desire to make a decision they may regret in the future. We infer that this means any rate changes may be modest.

Going into 2025, we’re focussed on investing more into alternative assets because we see an opportunity to provide risk diversification and additional avenues for return.  Assets that assist with securing the energy supply are particularly attractive because we will be seeing demand for energy increase to keep up with the growth in AI.

The table below shows smartMonday performance to 31 December 2024. Shading denotes where smartMonday has outperformed the SuperRatings median.

Data source: SuperRatings Accumulation Fund Crediting Rate Survey.

Performance shown net of investment fees and taxes, annualised performance shown for periods greater than 1 year. Returns are not guaranteed and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investments may be held directly, or indirectly through Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and other managed investment vehicles.

*Source: SuperRatings. More information available here.

**Average smartMonday member is 43 years of age, as of December 2024.