Welcome to your April bulletin
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With only one more quarter of the current financial year, AvSuper’s investment returns are looking good, with many of our investment options likely to end the year with "double digit" returns. However markets remain volatile, as you’ll see in our investment update below. We’re also awaiting the Treasurer’s 2014 Federal Budget in mid May 2014 – stay tuned for further updates from us as we provide members with an analysis of any relevant issues which may emerge in relation to super. |
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March 2014 Quarterly Investment Update
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Global context Investor sentiment was adversely affected when Russian troops annexed the Crimean peninsula following the ousting of Ukrainian President Yanukovych. It was also weakened by concerns about the Chinese shadow banking system and the impact of a “clean-up” on growth rates; however, the response by investors so far indicates a degree of confidence in the Chinese authorities’ ability to correct these imbalances. New US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen spooked markets late in the quarter by hinting at a faster pace of interest rate normalisation relative to what the market was pricing. Despite this, economic conditions continued to improve across most major developed markets, and this was broadly supportive of growth assets throughout the quarter. Emerging markets The first quarter of 2014 remained a challenging period for emerging markets, with the asset class underperforming the MSCI World index. The quarter was characterised by high levels of volatility, beginning with a sharp January sell-off as concern over the US Federal Reserve’s tapering of its quantitative-easing programme ignited a cycle of capital outflows in emerging markets and weakening currencies – forcing central banks to raise interest rates. The top three performing markets over the quarter were Indonesia, Greece (a new entrant into the index) and the Philippines. Russia, Hungary and China meanwhile were among the main laggards. Australian market The
S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index (2.0%) outperformed
hedged global equities as the lower Australian Dollar
began to flow through to company earnings. This makes
the third consecutive quarterly rise for the market,
which has now gained 16.17% since 30 June 2013. Mid
cap stocks were the strongest performers in the Australian
market, whilst small cap stocks underperformed. From
a sector perspective, IT was the strongest performer,
and Materials and Consumer Staples stocks produced negative
absolute returns. Within the small cap universe the
difference between Industrials and Resources was stark,
with the latter underperforming by 3.3%. |
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Currency The Australian Dollar (AUD) appreciated 3.6% against the US Dollar over the quarter as the re-pricing of Australian interest rates made it relatively more attractive. The US Dollar weakened against most other major currencies as investors scaled back expectations on how quickly conditions in the US will normalise. |
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Investment Returns (net of investment fees and taxes) to 31 March 2014 |
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Past performance may not be an indicator of future performance. |
AvSuper News
Pension bonus – registrations for this scheme end on 30 June 2014 so if you were born before 20 September 1944 (men) or 1 January 1946 (women) you may want to check your eligibility on the Human Services website or contact them on 132 300.
We can search for lost super on your behalf – simply give us permission (within Member Online or by calling, emailing or writing to us) to use your TFN to search the ATO database. It costs you nothing and we’ll let you know what we find.
Mothers Day Classic – AvSuper is supporting the MDC in Canberra on 11 May at Rond Terrace, Commonwealth Park. We’d love our members to walk or run, too, or sponsor us to help fight against breast cancer. Or give us a call if you can volunteer with us.
New deeming rules come into effect on 1 January 2015 so if you are thinking about retiring soon, please read our fact sheet or contact us for advice as the new rules may have a large impact on your income stream.
New product disclosure statements and member guides - Updated guides to your AvSuper membership have been added to our website this month.
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Contact us |
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