Unlisted assets: What are they and why is my super fund investing in them?

Unlisted assets don’t sound like a topic that would cause people to get all hot under the collar, but that’s exactly what’s happening in the super industry right now.

After a difficult year in investment markets due to rising inflation and interest rates – plus concerns about the end of quantitative easing in the US and elsewhere – the annual returns posted by super funds were keenly anticipated.

But with several large industry super funds posting positive returns courtesy of strong performances from their unlisted assets, some observers are calling foul, claiming this paints an unfairly positive picture of their investment performance over the past financial year.

Although the industry debate continues to rage, for an ordinary super fund member it raises the question of just what unlisted assets are and why your super fund could have some of your retirement savings invested in these assets.

How does my super fund invest?

To help members successfully save for their retirement, super funds create a broad investment portfolio that includes a wide variety of assets and asset classes (such as shares, property, bonds and cash).

The fund’s trustees use these different assets to ensure the fund has a well-balanced and diversified investment portfolio. This approach generally includes using both listed and unlisted assets.