Australian Pensions Break into Global Top 20

Australian pension funds have made significant gains in global rankings, according to the annual Global Top 300 Pension Funds report from the Thinking Ahead Institute. AustralianSuper and Australian Retirement Trust have both entered the top 20 for the first time, with assets under management (AUM) of US$259.7 billion and US$234 billion respectively.

The combined AUM of the top 20 funds increased by 14.7% year-on-year to US$11.9 trillion, while Australia's share of global AUM rose from 4.8% to 5.2%. This growth was driven by strong returns, merger activity, and a stronger Australian dollar.

Jonathan Grigg, senior director of investments at WTW, noted that all Australian funds included in the top 300 ranking rose in the rankings except for State Super, which manages defined benefit assets differently than other Australian funds.