Conservative people tend to be overly conservative with their investment choices

When determining where to invest our superannuation assets we should place most of the focus on our age not on our personality. That is, if you are in your 40’s and you have a conservative investment profile, a portion of your superannuation will be invested in cash. Why? Because conservative profiles have a greater cash and fixed interest allocation and a lesser component allocated to property and shares. Generally we invest in cash for security and short term needs such as day to day bills, groceries, travel, school fees, mortgage payments etc. However, if you are a 40 year old and you have cash in your superannuation fund you cannot access this cash in the short term. In fact you probably will not be able to access this cash for another 20-25 years. You need to focus more on growth assets regardless of your personality profile.

Invest all my super in shares and property I hear you say? Let’s talk about shares. There are shares and there are shares. For example, we have large public companies that are worth over $1Billion in market capitalisation. At the other extreme we have small capital companies and start-ps. We have companies that operate in the day to day food industry, finance industry, health etc and at the other extreme small mining exploration companies, start-ups etc. My point is that there are different type of companies. A 40 year old can choose an allocation of companies that are in established industries, that have stable earnings and pay consistent dividends.

The importance here is that you know what type of business your superannuation fund invests in. This is why many people set up Self Managed Superannuation Funds so that they can select the specific share and investment for their individual requirements. Now, a Self Managed Superannuation Fund is not the messiah. There is not a one size fits all. Some industry funds and retail funds can be equally appropriate depending on our age and circumstances.

My recommendation is, the next time you receive your superannuation statement delve into the investments. That is, the statement will definitely say what percentage of the funds are invested in Australian shares, International shares, property and cash but delve further, what specific shares do they invest in, which industries? Which companies? Have you heard of these companies?

Superannuation funds are investing for people in their 20’s to their 90’s. You need to focus on your individual circumstances. This strategy will make a massive financial difference by the time you retire.

 

Should you require further information on your Superannuation or investment allocation, please feel free to contact Peter Quinn by submitting an enquiry or calling us on +61 2 9580 9166.

The information in this document does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs and so you should consider its appropriateness having regard to these factors before acting on it.  It is important that your personal circumstances are taken into account before making any financial decision and it is recommended that you seek assistance from your financial adviser.