The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its annual superannuation statistics for the year ended June 30, 2020 – containing information on funds and membership profile, key financial performance metrics, financial position, fees, and expenses.
APRA's latest data revealed a total of $2.9 trillion superannuation industry assets in the year ended June 30, 2020. Of this total, APRA-regulated superannuation entities held $1.9 trillion and self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), which are regulated by the ATO, held $0.7 trillion. The remaining $210 billion were split into exempt public sector superannuation schemes ($147 billion) and the balance of life office statutory funds ($63 billion).
Small funds including SMSFs, small APRA funds, and single-member approved deposit funds accounted for 25.6% of total assets. Meanwhile, retail funds held 20.7% of total assets, industry funds held 26.0%, public sector funds had 23.6%, and corporate funds held 2.0%.
From June 2015 to June 2020, the total superannuation industry assets increased by 44.0% from $2.0 trillion to $2.9 trillion. APRA-regulated assets also increased by 56.1% from $1.2 trillion to $1.9 trillion and SMSF assets 29.0% from $569 billion to $733 billion.
During the same period, the number of SMSFs jumped by 11.2% from 533,000 to 593,000, while the number of APRA-regulated funds decreased by 28.5% from 2,517 to 1,800. The decrease of 717 APRA-regulated funds over this period comprised of 89 entities with more than four members and 628 small APRA funds.
Superannuation members' benefits also increased in the year to June 30, 2020, from $2,018.3 billion to $2,023.9 billion. However, the number of member accounts decreased by 11.7% from 26.4 million to 23.3 million due mainly to sweeps of inactive low-balance accounts the ATO under the PYSP reforms.
Members aged 50 years and over accounted for 67.5% of members' benefits ($1,365.3 billion) and 35.4% of member accounts (8.3 million). Meanwhile, members aged under 50 years accounted for 32.1% of members' benefits ($650.4 billion) and 64.3% of member accounts (15.0 million).
From June 2015 to June 2020, members' benefits increased by 35.7% from $1,491.4 billion to $2,023.9 billion. However, the number of member accounts decreased by 19.5% from 28.9 million to 23.3 million.
