Another year of outstanding returns as CFS tops list of best performing super funds in 2024

CFS continued to deliver excellent investment results for super members for the year to 31 December 2024, driven by the ability of our highly experienced investment team to leverage the strength of global and local share markets while actively managing risk and continuing to diversify investment portfolios.  

For members of FirstChoice Employer Super, calendar year 2024, results included:  

• 16.6% Growth – Lifestage 1975-79  
• 13.8% Balanced – Lifestage 1965-69 

FirstChoice Wholesale Personal Super members benefited from results that included:  

• 14.6% CFS Enhanced Index Growth  
• 13.2% CFS Enhanced Index Balanced  

These results were well above the average super returns of 11.4% for growth investment options and 8.7% for balanced investment options over the year to 31 December, according to independent research house Chant West^#.

CFS Chief Investment Officer Jonathan Armitage said the disciplined approach our investment team takes to managing volatility in a higher inflation environment was an important contributor to the results.  

“Achieving such strong performance against this backdrop reflects the experience and capability of our investment team,” Jonathan said.  

“We believe that inflation data will continue to be volatile in 2025 so diversification and active risk management will be critical components of portfolio construction in the year ahead.” 

Global shares were the star performers in calendar year 2024, delivering outstanding double-digit growth, followed by very strong growth in emerging markets and robust returns in Australian shares and global listed infrastructure.  

“Global equities were up just over 30% in calendar year 2024, domestic equities were up 11.4% and that means we’re seeing exceptional returns for members,” Jonathan added.  

“Technology has been a key driver of this, which includes companies like Nvidia, fueled by the boom in generative AI.   

“We’ve seen strong returns from financials such as banks. But there has also been a broadening out of equity market performance to other parts of the market, with small companies doing very well.  

“The Australian share market did well but emerging markets also performed strongly with returns of about 18% last year.”  

Media coverage of how super performed during 2024 highlighted CFS’ industry-leading returns.  
 
The Australian’s widely syndicated article, “Super stars: passive funds outperform”, reporting SuperRatings’ rankings data of the best-performing super funds overall, described CFS as “the best of the lot”.

This followed coverage from The Australian reporting that super recorded its best year since 2021.

These comments were echoed by radio station 2GB’s Money News program on 20 January 2024.

“The top 10 have been revealed and they did deliver bumper returns in 2024, super funds, but the best of the lot is the retail fund Colonial First State,” said presenter Deb Knight. 

CFS delivered strong results for performance, fees and customer service in 2024 according to key industry benchmarks.  

The latest data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority revealed CFS as the best rated super fund in Australia for customer service, with the lowest levels of customer complaints out of the 20 largest funds.   

Our outstanding performance across the board was recognised with CFS named Australia’s Best Super Fund by Mozo’s Expert’s Choice Awards for 2025.  

CFS was also named the super fund with the most momentum in Super Review’s Super Fund of the Year Awards for 2024.    

Kelly Power, Chief Executive Officer of Colonial First State Superannuation, said it was pleasing CFS continued to deliver such strong results across a broad range of measures.   

“We know that strong performance, low fees and good customer service are important to our members and we are pleased to be consistently delivering in each area,” she said.   

Markets are expected to continue to be volatile in the year ahead with inflation remaining elevated in many markets and likely to be more variable than in the previous decade.  

The potential impact of the new Trump administration in the US on global markets is difficult to predict without more policy detail, Jonathan said. However, CFS is building increased diversification and resiliency into our investment portfolios to help manage volatility.  

"We are looking to remove any unrewarded risks in our portfolios,” Jonathan said. "If Trump puts material tariffs on Europe, for instance, then European currency may well perform poorly. We will hedge those risks where we can.  

“Looking at the outlook for different investment types, in terms of global equity markets, we expect US earnings to remain among the strongest, although high valuations combined with high market expectations due to AI may see short-term challenges emerge,” he said.   

“We're also seeing high valuations for Australian banks, which have been a key driver of returns and may impact the performance of the local share market.”  

With inflation remaining high in developed markets but emerging market economies diverging, CFS sees opportunities in interest rates and currencies, credit markets, and quality assets in infrastructure and property.  

“Property has seen headwinds to asset valuations particularly across the retail and office sectors and we consider industrial property to be fully priced,” Jonathan said. “However, we are also seeing high quality assets continuing to show strong resilience. We remain cautious about assets that do not exhibit strong demand fundamentals.    

“Results in 2024 were unusually strong, leading to higher-than-average super returns over the past two years, so we expect they may normalise as we go forward,” he added.