Managed Funds, Australia

Latest release

Statistics on the assets and liabilities of financial institutions that pool funds for investment, classified by type of financial instrument

Reference period
December 2023
Released
7/03/2024
  • Next Release 6/06/2024
    Managed Funds, Australia, March 2024
  • Next Release 5/09/2024
    Managed Funds, Australia, June 2024
  • Next Release 5/12/2024
    Managed Funds, Australia, September 2024
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Key statistics

During the December 2023 quarter:

  • the total managed funds industry rose $176.6b (3.9%) to $4,751.5b funds under management
  • consolidated assets of managed funds institutions rose $152.1b (4.1%) to $3,883.7b
  • cross invested assets rose $24.5b (4.5%) to $568.2b
  • unconsolidated assets rose $176.6b (4.1%) to $4,451.9b.

Data quality and user consultation

  • The Managed Funds publication provides a view of Funds under Management in the Managed Funds Industry, based on ABS methodology and definitions. The Managed Funds industry has evolved significantly since the surveys and their related methodologies were last updated. As a result, some of the statistics produced in the Managed Funds publication do not capture the full scope of activity. Please see Managed Funds, Australia methodology for more information.
  • Feedback from consultation Managed Funds, Australia September quarter 2023 confirmed that the ABS methodology and definitions do not measure industry activity as it is now operating. Advances in technology, for example, have increased the complexity in measuring the size and composition of industry activity. 
  • While consultation is ongoing, the ABS anticipate pausing the Managed Funds publication in its current form while work is undertaken across agencies, to uplift and enhance the collection of data on investment funds for ABS requirements. Please use caution when using these statistics and use the methodology and data quality notes when referencing any data points.
  • ABS survey data on Public offer unit trusts are also used in the compilation of associated sectors in the National Accounts: Finance and Wealth (tables 9 and 23). In this publication, adjustments are made to these sectors to account for scope and coverage, based on other counterparty information, though some underlying quality issues remain.
 Sep Qtr 2023
$m
Dec Qtr 2023
$m
Sep Qtr 2023 to Dec Qtr 2023
%
Total managed funds industry4,574,8734,751,5033.9
Consolidated assets total managed funds institutions3,731,5783,883,6634.1
Cross invested assets between managed funds institutions543,663568,1964.5
Unconsolidated assets total managed funds institutions4,275,2414,451,8584.1
 Life insurance corporations119,873121,1461.1
 Superannuation (pension) funds3,639,1253,797,3624.3
 Public offer (retail) unit trusts469,028485,3573.5
 All other managed funds institutions47,21547,9931.6

Managed funds industry

Resident investment managers' placements with other resident investment managers are deducted when deriving the size of the total managed funds industry.

Note: Hide/unhide series in the graph by clicking the legend above 

Superannuation (pension) funds

Total unconsolidated assets of superannuation funds rose $158.2b (4.3%) to $3,797.4b during the December quarter.

Key movements were as follows:

  • assets overseas rose $52.5b (6.9%)
  • shares rose $44.9b (7.5%)
  • units in trusts rose $32.2b (2.6%)
  • derivatives rose $11.4b (23.8%)
  • bonds, etc. rose $10.0b (9.4%)

Public offer (retail) unit trusts

Total unconsolidated assets of public offer (retail) trusts rose $16.3b (3.5%) to $485.4b during the December quarter.

Key movements were as follows:

  • shares rose $6.6b (10.0%)
  • units in trusts rose $5.1b (4.7%)
  • assets overseas rose $4.5b (5.1%)
  • land, buildings and equipment fell $2.6b (-1.7%)
  • bonds, etc. rose $1.1b (7.5%)

Cross investment within public offer (retail) unit trusts rose $1.8b (4.2%) to $44.7b.

Other managed funds institutions

Life insurance

Total unconsolidated assets of life insurance corporations rose $1.3b (1.1%) to $121.1b during the December quarter.

Key movements were as follows:

  • units in trusts rose $1.5b (3.5%)
  • other financial assets fell $0.8b (-13.1%)
  • other non-financial assets fell $0.7b (-20.8%)
  • assets overseas rose $0.6b (3.3%)
  • shares rose $0.2b (2.0%)

All other managed funds institutions

Total unconsolidated assets of:

  • friendly societies rose $0.5b (5.2%) to $10.0b
  • common funds rose $0.4b (3.3%) to $12.5b
  • cash management trusts fell $0.1b (-0.5%) to $25.5b.

Data quality note - Life Insurance and Friendly Societies

The adoption of the AASB 17 accounting standard by the insurance industry has resulted in changes to reported data. Consequently, some of the estimates for life insurance corporations since the September quarter 2023 have been modelled. While these series continue to be published, users are advised to apply caution. The ABS is working with data providers to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Revisions

  • Table 1 Summary managed funds industry - revised back to the December quarter 2021.
  • Table 2 Summary managed funds institutions - revised back to the December quarter 2021.
  • Table 3 Life insurance offices - revised back to the September quarter 2022.
  • Table 4 Superannuation (pension) funds - revised back to the December quarter 2021.
  • Table 5 Public offer (retail) unit trusts - revised back to the December quarter 2022.
  • Table 6 Friendly Societies - no revisions.
  • Table 7 Common funds - no revisions.
  • Table 8 Cash management trusts - no revisions.
  • Table 9 Resident Investment Managers - revised back to the December quarter 2021.

Enquiries

For enquiries about these and related statistics, contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5655.0.

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