The median balanced super fund is set to end the first month of 2011 with a gain of half a per cent, according to research firm SuperRatings.
"Despite the tragedy of the floods in Queensland, Australian shares look set to deliver a solid return for the month. This means that the median balanced fund should recover a half per cent gain for January," SuperRatings managing director Jeff Bresnahan said.
Over calendar year 2010, the median balanced fund posted a return of 4.6 per cent, with growth accelerating in the second half of the year to 7 per cent over the six month period.
"In reviewing 2010, we should note that although the GFC [global financial crisis] is behind us, it remains in the minds of super fund members, and its impact is still visible when they review their account balances - hoping to see that they have continued to recover," Bresnahan said.
Despite posting a return of 12.9 per cent over 2009 and 4.6 per cent last year, the median balanced fund continues to lag the standard consumer price index plus 3 per cent investment objective over 5 years.
"This is unlikely to change until we get a more sustained recovery in markets and we drop off the bad years' performance numbers," he said.
SuperRatings defines a balanced option as a fund that has between 60 and 76 per cent of its assets in growth style investments and typically holds 30 per cent in Australian shares.
