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
Release date and time
07/03/2024 11:30am AEDT

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.

Modernising the Managed Funds collections

Consultation with users and industry in late 2023 found that the Managed Funds publication and underlying collections no longer aligned with the way the industry operates and did not capture the full scope of activity. As a result, the Managed Funds publication was paused following the release of the December quarter 2023 issue.

Discussions with industry and government have identified continued demand for data on managed funds activity, including insights on interaction between the managed funds sector and superannuation. 

The ABS is currently working with key stakeholders to improve the quality of our managed funds statistics, to design an improved collection for Australia’s National Accounts and to work towards reinstating the Managed Funds publication. Improvements will also aim to reduce provider burden and better align concepts and definitions with industry standards. An update on progress will be provided in December 2025.

Data quality note

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 in 2010. Please exercise caution when interpreting these statistics. Please see the Managed Funds, Australia methodology page for more information. 

Data from the existing collection continues to be used in the compilation of the National Accounts: Finance and Wealth (tables 9 and 23), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and in measures of household income and wealth. In the National Accounts: Finance and Wealth publication, adjustments are made to these sectors to account for scope and coverage. Though some underlying quality issues remain, National Accounts: Finance and Wealth will continue to publish information on investment funds and can be used as an alternative source.

 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 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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