The median growth fund fell 0.9 per cent, bringing the return for the first seven months of the 2014 financial year down to 8.4 per cent.
Chant West said this was mainly due to the three per cent decline in Australian shares and the 3.2 per cent fall in international shares, or 1.2 per cent in unhedged terms.
Listed property, on the other hand, performed well with Australian and global REITs generating returns of 0.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively.
According to SuperRatings, diversified fixed interest also helped offset the fall in equities, rising 0.6 per cent over the month, as well as cash options up 0.2 per cent.
The Chant West data shows industry funds continue to outperform master trusts by 0.6 per cent per annum, returning 7.2 per cent on an annual 10-year basis against the 6.6 per cent return of master trusts.
Chant West director Warren Chant said the negative returns in January were partly the results of the US Federal Reserve’s announcement that it will increase tapering by US$10 billion a month, as well as weaker economic data from the US and China.
“General concerns over inflationary pressure in emerging economies also weighed on share markets,” he said.
Mr Chant said members shouldn’t worry about the negative return in January, since growth funds have just come off the strongest calendar year return in 20 years.
“Already in February we’ve seen share markets rebound, and we estimate that the median growth fund is up 1.3 per cent for the month so far (up to the 18th), which has more than offset the loss in January,” he said.
