Do your super investments match your risk profile?

How you choose to invest your super can have a big impact on the amount you have to spend in retirement.

With more than 2.3 million members, our size means we can invest in a broad range of local, national, and global opportunities. It’s an important way we help grow your super and boost your retirement income.

As a member with us, you can choose from a wide range of investment options. You can choose just one, or mix a few together.

What to think about when investing

Your retirement goals are unique. So when you’re picking investment options, it’s important to think about your own situation.

One important factor is how much investment risk you’re comfortable with. We call this your ‘risk tolerance’ or ‘risk profile.’

Your risk tolerance

Your risk tolerance is how much risk you’re comfortable taking when you invest. This might change over time as your life changes.

To work out your risk tolerance, think about how you would feel if the value of your investments went up or down over the short term.

• If the value of your money falls, will you feel uncertain and want to sell?
• If the returns are less than inflation, will you regret not taking more risk?

The level of risk you’re comfortable with might depend on factors like your age, when you want to use the money, your past investing experience, and how much super you want and need when you retire.

How risks can affect your investment choice

We invest in both growth and defensive assets. Depending on your risk tolerance, you may want to:

• invest in growth assets
• invest in defensive assets
• choose a mix of both.

Growth assets could give you higher returns in the long term, but they have a higher risk of short-term losses. Shares are an example of a growth asset.

Defensive assets have a lower chance of making losses. The trade-off is that they generally deliver lower long-term returns, which might not keep up with inflation. Cash is an example of a defensive asset.

Some of our investment options are growth-focussed and some are defensive-focussed. Some are a mix of both.

How to find out the risk of investments

Whether it’s due to volatility or liquidity or longevity, all investments have some risk. We explain the different types of risk here.

We also explain the risk level for each of our investment options. We use the Standard Risk Measure, which all super funds use. For each investment option it tells you the likely number of negative annual returns over any 20-year period. You can use it to compare risk levels for the different investment options that we offer and that other super funds offer.

Get advice about your investments

You can get advice about your account with us online or over the phone to help you make informed, confident decisions to help achieve your financial goals. Book an appointment for a time that suits you.

Advice about your account with us is included with your membership.¹

Find out more about our advice options

1. Any advice given is provided by QInvest Limited (ABN 35 063 511 580, AFSL 238274), that is wholly owned by Australian Retirement Trust Pty Ltd (ABN 88 010 720 840, AFSL 228975) as an asset of Australian Retirement Trust (ABN 60 905 115 063). QInvest Limited is a separate legal entity responsible for the financial services it provides. Eligibility conditions apply. Refer to the Financial Services Guide (pdf) for more information.