It’s important to remember that while newspapers and television news trade in headlines day-by-day (if not hour-by-hour) to garner clicks and viewers, investment markets operate on a long-term basis.
The beauty of super is watching your balance grow over time, so we know it can be difficult to see it drop when there’s volatility in global financial markets, as we’re seeing now as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is above all a human tragedy.
While falls in share markets globally dominated the headlines, a range of so-called “safe haven” assets, such as government bonds and high quality credit investments, performed well over the March 2020 quarter.
Each of Qantas Super’s investment options performed well in the September quarter. According to Qantas Super investment manager Chris Grogan, bonds and ‘real’ assets including property infrastructure, agriculture, and timber performed well through this period.
Put simply, a return is the money made on an investment over a particular period of time, or how much you get back on top of what you put in. An investor will generally put money into an investment because they expect some kind of return; that’s where we get the term ‘return on investment’ from.
Effective immediately, Qantas Super will no longer invest in tobacco manufacturers. We are currently selling the small holdings we own.
In announcing the decision, Chief Investment Officer Andrew Spence said: “Given the negative social costs and health problems associated with smoking, tobacco is at risk of becoming obsolete with growing acknowledgement globally that there is no safe level of usage of the product.
