Australian superannuation has just passed another fairly extraordinary milestone.
At the end of June, Australians had around $4.8 trillion sitting in super.
That’s trillion with a T, and over the year, super assets grew by 9.5%. Those are big numbers, and they also tell you almost nothing about whether your super is doing what it should be doing.
That’s the part I’d be more interested in – particularly if you’re a business owner.
Super is often the investment business owners pay the least attention to
There is something slightly ironic about the way many business owners approach money.They’ll spend hours debating a $50,000 piece of equipment. They’ll negotiate a supplier contract to the last dollar. They’ll agonise over hiring someone on $100,000 a year. Then they’ll have $500,000, $1 million or considerably more sitting in super and barely look at it.
Sometimes the entire investment strategy is essentially whatever option was selected years ago.
If that’s you, you’re hardly alone.
But as the balance grows, ignoring it becomes harder to justify.
A good return isn’t necessarily a good result
Suppose your super returned 10% last year.
Good? Maybe.
What was it invested in? How much risk did it take? How did comparable investments perform? What fees did you pay? How much insurance is coming out of the account? And, most importantly, is the investment strategy appropriate for what you’re actually trying to achieve?
A 10% return tells you surprisingly little without context and the same applies when markets fall. A negative year isn’t automatically evidence that something is wrong.
Investing involves risk. Different portfolios behave differently because they’re designed to do different jobs.
The useful question isn’t simply “Did my super go up?” It’s whether the strategy is behaving roughly as you’d expect and remains suitable for where you’re heading.
Business owners have another issue to consider
Your super doesn’t exist in isolation.
Imagine your business is worth $2 million and operates in construction. Your income comes from construction. Perhaps you own commercial property connected to the business as well. Then your super portfolio is heavily exposed to Australian shares, property and other economically sensitive investments. Each investment might look perfectly reasonable on its own. The more interesting question is what they look like together. Your personal investment portfolio can play a different role from your business. It doesn’t necessarily need to chase the same opportunities or take the same kinds of risks. In fact, there can be a good argument for doing the opposite.
If your business already gives you plenty of exposure to economic growth and one particular industry, your personal wealth can help diversify away from it. That’s one reason I don’t particularly like looking at super as a standalone account. It is one part of the owner’s total financial position.
Passing the test doesn’t answer the question either
APRA has also recently completed its 2026 superannuation performance test. Most products passed, but some didn’t.
That’s useful information, particularly for identifying persistent underperformance. But a fund passing a regulatory performance test doesn’t mean it is automatically the right investment for you. It can’t know when you want to retire. It doesn’t know what other assets you own. It doesn’t know whether you’re planning to sell a business in five years. It doesn’t know whether your family needs insurance. And it certainly doesn’t know how much risk you’re comfortable taking when markets fall sharply. Those are personal planning questions.
Have a look before the balance gets really big
There is a tendency to become interested in super at about the same time retirement starts appearing on the horizon. That’s backwards. The more time you have, the more useful the decisions can be.
If you’re 45 and have another 15 or 20 years of contributions and investment returns ahead of you, relatively small changes can compound for a long time. That doesn’t mean constantly changing investments. Quite the opposite. A good long-term strategy should usually be fairly boring. But boring and neglected aren’t the same thing. You should know what you own, why you own it and what role it plays in the bigger plan.
A useful annual check
Once a year, pull out your super statement and spend 20 minutes with it.
Don’t just look at the balance. Look at the actual investments, the fees, check the insurance, check where your contributions are going, check your beneficiaries. Then put the account beside everything else you own – Your business, Property, Investments outside super, Cash, Debt.
Suddenly the question changes from: “Is my super fund any good?” to: “Does my overall financial position make sense?”
That’s a much more useful question.
Australia might have almost $4.8 trillion in super. The only part that really matters to you is yours.
This article provides general information only and does not constitute personal financial advice.