Retirement
Superannuation takes $230bn hit
Australia’s national savings have fallen by $230 billion over the March quarter, putting members in a slightly worse position than 12 months ago.
Superannuation takes $230bn hit
Australia’s national savings have fallen by $230 billion over the March quarter, putting members in a slightly worse position than 12 months ago.
According to APRA, total superannuation savings in 2019 were $2,738.8 billion and, despite 12 months of growth, now sit at $2,731.4 billion, meaning Aussies have lost 0.3 of a percentage point over the last year.
The official figures show that SMSFs were hardest hit, as the fallout from COVID-19 has seen the cash rate fall as well as rent being potentially put on hold.
Industry super funds, which are known to invest in national building activities and therefore exposed to infrastructure declines, fell by $54 billion, while more aggressive retail funds exposed to the sharemarket fell by $80 billion.
Shares and cash of SMSFs, which are widely invested in property, fell by 9.4 per cent over the March quarter.
APRA’s figures exclude the Morrison government’s new early superannuation release scheme which allows members to release up to $10,000 by 30 June in both the 2020 and 2021 financial year.
This is largely expected to add an additional financial strain on the superannuation industry.
Three superannuation funds have surpassed $1 billion in released funds, with two-thirds of the heavy lifting coming from just 10 funds, government statistics have revealed.
In a separate government release, APRA’s data around the Morrison government’s early access to superannuation scheme showed, as of 17 May, 1.59 million people have applied, with a total amount of $12 billion.
The funds have paid out 1.41 million applications, for a total of $10.6 billion, with the average payment being $7,510.
The 10 funds with the highest number of applications received from the ATO had made close to a million payments, at 947,500, worth a total of $7 billion.
The fund that topped early release payments was AustralianSuper, with its total being $1.36 billion as at 17 May. The fund had paid 181,671 applications out of its total 215,694 received.
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