"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 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 five years.