With a Health Super accumulation account or pension account, you have a choice of nine investment options, five Standard investment options and four Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) options.
| Standard options | SRI options |
| Long-Term Growth | Long-Term Growth SRI |
|---|---|
| Medium-Term Growth | Medium-Term Growth SRI |
| Balanced | Balanced SRI |
| Short-Term Conservative | Short-Term Conservative SRI |
| Stopover | Not available. |
Standard options
Health Super invests to maximise investment returns by diversifying its investments across a range of asset classes, underlying investment managers and industry sectors.
Objectives of our investment options
The investment objectives and other characteristics (including risk profile) of each investment option is outlined below.
Please note that the investment objectives relating to the Standard and SRI options are the same (although the strategy for achieving them may differ).
While the objectives for each of the investment options are expected to be achieved with reasonable probability over the rolling periods shown, the objectives are not a promise or guarantee of any particular return or benefit.
Annual returns may be volatile and negative returns may occur in any one or number of years. The expectation of negative returns has been determined over a number of years. Each of our investment options are invested in a mix of different assets and underlying managers with varying risk/return characteristics. This influences the level of risk and return shown for each option.
Asset allocations are reviewed formally at least once a year and the Trustee and its investment advisers constantly monitor our investments throughout the year.
Long-Term Growth (Standard and SRI available)
- Higher level of risk
- Aims to achieve a return that exceeds inflation by 5.0% p.a. measured over rolling 5 year periods
- Has an expectation of a negative return 1 year in 5
- Has an investment period/horizon of 7 years or more
- Has the following benchmark asset allocation ranges
Medium-Term Growth (Standard and SRI available)
- High to medium level of risk
- Aims to achieve a return that exceeds inflation by 4.0% p.a. measured over rolling 5 year periods
- Has an expectation of a negative return 1 year in 7
- Has an investment period/horizon of 5 years or more
- Has the following benchmark asset allocation ranges.
Balanced (Standard and SRI available)
- Medium level of risk
- Aims to achieve a return that exceeds inflation by 3.5% p.a. measured over rolling 5 year periods
- Has an expectation of a negative return 1 year in 10
- Has an investment period/horizon of 5 years or more
- Has the following benchmark asset allocation ranges.
Short-Term Conservative (Standard and SRI available)
- Medium to low level of risk
- Aims to achieve a return that exceeds inflation by 2.5% p.a. measured over rolling 3 year periods
- Has an expectation of a negative return 1 year in 20
- Has an investment period/horizon of 3 years or more
- Has the following benchmark asset allocation ranges.
Stopover (only available as a Standard option)
- Lower level of risk
- Aims to achieve a return that exceeds inflation by 1.0% p.a. measured over rolling 3 year periods
- Has a negligible expectation of any negative returns
- Has an investment period/horizon of up to 3 years
- Has the following benchmark asset allocation ranges.
SRI Options
At Health Super, you can use your investing power to support companies and organisations that meet certain labour standards or social, environmental or ethical consideration (referred to as Socially Responsible Investments). Some of our members believe it’s important to take an ethical stance and invest in Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) options.
How do Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) work?
If you choose an SRI option, the Australian and International shares component in your chosen option are selected in accordance with criteria for Socially Responsible Investments. All the other asset allocations are the same as for the Standard options.
We engage underlying investment managers who use screening processes to select companies who are considered suitable for inclusion in the shares portfolio of each of our SRI options. The current investment managers are shown below (but these can change from time to time at the absolute discretion of the Trustee):
| Investment Manager | Responsible for screening |
| Perennial Investment Partners Ltd (Perennial) | Australian SRI shares |
|---|---|
| AMP Capital Investors Ltd | International SRI shares |
The investment managers require companies to meet certain labour standards or social, environmental or ethical considerations and monitor these criteria on an ongoing basis. They do this through negative and/or positive screening of companies.
| Companies screened for activities that are not socially responsible (negative screening) | Companies screened for socially responsible activities (positive screening) |
If a company is materially involved in certain negative activities, it may be excluded from SRI options, depending on each individual investment manager's approach. These negative activities include:
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On the other hand, if a company is engaged in, or has positive policies in relation to one or more of the following activities, they are considered for our SRI option:
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For information about the standards and considerations that are taken into account in our SRI options refer to the Member Guide and Pension Guide.
Important tips to consider when investing in SRI options
- There maybe a higher level of risk involved when investing in Socially Responsible investments. Be aware that they may be more volatile than some other forms of investments. However, greater volatility is no guarantee of higher returns.
- Introduced in 2003, view our SRI options latest super returns or latest pension returns.
