DECEMBER KEY FIGURES
 | Dec Qtr 2003 | Sep Qtr 2004 | Dec Qtr 2004 | |
| Consolidated Assets | $m | $m | $m | |
| |
| Superannuation funds | 342,903 | 389,576 | 412,998 | |
| Life insurance offices(a) | 167,211 | 176,616 | 184,106 | |
| Other managed funds | 192,388 | 205,991 | 216,805 | |
| Total | 702,502 | 772,183 | 813,910 | |
| |
| (a) Investments by superannuation funds which are held and administered by life insurance offices are included under life insurance offices. |
| See note on consolidation in Explanatory Notes, para 8 |
Total consolidated assets
| |
DECEMBER KEY POINTS
CONSOLIDATED ASSETS
- Total consolidated assets of managed funds institutions was $813.9b at 31 December 2004, an increase of $41.7b (5%) from the revised September quarter 2004 figure, reflecting changes in asset values during the quarter. During the December quarter 2004, the S&P/ASX 200 increased by 11% and the price of foreign shares (represented by the US S&P 500) increased by 9%. Domestic bond prices increased during the quarter with the 5 year Treasury Bond yield decreasing by 0.6 percentage points. However the $A appreciated against the $US by 9%, partially offsetting the effect of the price increase.
- Consolidated assets of life insurance offices, superannuation funds, public unit trusts and cash management trusts experienced increases of $7.5b (4%), $23.4b (6%), $9.1b (6%) and $1.4b (4%) respectively. Assets of friendly societies and common funds remained virtually the same.
- The major asset movements for the quarter were in equities and units in trusts, up $26.2b (9%), overseas assets, up $10.3b (8%), cash and deposits, up $2.4b (4%) and land and buildings, up $2.0b (2%). These were offset somewhat by decreases in short term securities of $1.9b (3%).
- Investment managers had $804.6b in funds under management, up $36.4b (5%) from the revised September quarter 2004 figure. They managed $540.1b (67%) of consolidated managed funds' assets.
NOTES
REVISIONS THIS ISSUE
Revisions back to June 2001 have been made to fund managers (in respect of classification of source of funds) and superannuation funds (in respect of asset classification).
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
Survey response rates for public unit trusts were lower than expected for the December quarter 2004 reflecting merger activity in the unit trust industry and reporting cycles for listed entities. The December quarter 2004 results for public unit trusts and fund managers should be considered preliminary and footnotes have been provided for affected series. In the case of listed equity and listed property trusts (Ausstat tables 10a through 11c) December quarter 2004 figures are not yet available due to insufficient data.
EXPECTED CHANGES
Introduction of New Accounting Standards
New accounting standards to be introduced from 1 January to 31 December may have impacts on data reported to the ABS. The changes will be introduced by business and government in accordance with their external reporting cycles, and thus there is no single cutover date. The ABS has released, Information Paper: Impact of the Implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards on ABS Statistics (1279.0), which discusses the changes and the potential impacts on ABS statistics.
The series published in this publication are compiled in accordance with statistical standards, not accounting standards. In principle, therefore, there should be no breaks in series as a result the introduction of new accounting standards. In practice, the ABS expects that some data reported will change. ABS will discuss the nature of the change with the data providers, and where necessary, make adjustments on the basis of advice received. Where such adjustments are made, their nature and size will be noted on page 2 changes this issue.
For this release there were no identified impacts or adjustments made.
ROUNDING
Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals due to rounding.
INQUIRIES
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Glen Malam on Canberra (02) 6252 5040.
ANALYSIS
CONSOLIDATED ASSETS
By type of institution
At 31 December 2004, consolidated assets of superannuation funds was $413.0b, up $23.4b (6%) since September 2004. Consolidated assets of public unit trusts, life insurance offices and cash management trusts experienced increases of, $9.1b (6%), $7.5b (4%) and $1.4b (4%) respectively. Assets of common funds and friendly societies remained virtually the same at $9.7b and $4.5b respectively.
By type of asset
The major asset movements for the quarter were in equities and units in trusts, up $26.2b (9%) and assets overseas, up $10.3b (8%), cash and deposits, up $2.4b (4%), land and buildings, up $2.0b (2%), and other assets, up $1.8b (10%). These were offset by a decrease in holdings of short term securities of $1.9b (3%).
Cross investment
The table below presents the unconsolidated, cross-invested and consolidated assets of managed funds by type of fund as at 31 December 2004.
| Unconsolidated assets | Cross- invested assets | Consolidated assets | |
| Type of fund | $m | $m | $m | |
| |
| Life insurance offices | 214,586 | 30,480 | 184,106 | |
| Superannuation funds | 501,840 | 88,842 | 412,998 | |
| Public unit trusts | 192,761 | 24,563 | 168,198 | |
| Friendly societies | 6,370 | 1,851 | 4,519 | |
| Common funds | 10,206 | 466 | 9,740 | |
| Cash management trusts | 34,349 | - | 34,349 | |
| Total | 960,112 | 146,202 | 813,910 | |
| |
| - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
UNCONSOLIDATED ASSETS
Life insurance offices
At 31 December 2004, the total assets of life insurance offices stood at $214.6b, an increase of $7.5b since September 2004. Major increases were in equities and units in trusts of $7.3b (6%) and cash and deposits of $0.4b (7%). While there were decreases in long term securities of $0.4b (1%) and loans and placements of $0.6b (23%). Assets held overseas increased by $0.3b (2%).
Superannuation funds
The total assets of superannuation funds held outside of life offices was $501.8b at 31 December 2004, an increase of $27.3b (6%) since September 2004. Holdings of equities and units in trusts increased by $17.6b (8%), of which trading corporation shares increased by $9.8b (9%) and units in trusts increased by $4.2b (5%). Assets overseas increased $8.3b (9%), cash and deposits increased by $2.5b (6%) and long term securities increased by $0.5b (1%). Short term securities decreased by $3.8b (14%).
Public unit trusts
The total assets for public unit trusts was $192.8b at 31 December 2004, up $7.5b (4%) from the revised September 2004 figure. The major increases were in units in trusts, up $1.9b (5%) and assets overseas, up $1.7b (6%).
Friendly societies
Total assets of friendly societies was $6.4b at 31 December 2004, an increase of $0.1b since September 2004. At the end of the quarter, equities and units in trusts stood at $2.0b, long term securities at $1.1b and short term securities at $1.5b. Together they accounted for 73% of total assets.
Common funds
Total assets of common funds was $10.2b at 31 December 2004, an increase of $0.3b (3%) since September 2004. Short term securities and loan and placements account for 42% and 24% respectively of total assets.
Cash management trusts
Total assets of cash management trusts was $34.3b at 31 December 2004, up $1.4b (4.3%) since September 2004. Cash and deposits decreased by $0.6b (11.7%). Bank certificates of deposit increased by $2.2b (15%). All other asset classes remained virtually unchanged. Short term securities accounted for 77% of total assets.
INVESTMENT MANAGERS
Source of funds under management
During December quarter 2004 there was an increase in total funds under management by investment managers of $36.4b (5%), bringing the total funds under management to $804.6b.
The value of funds under management on behalf of superannuation funds increased by $17.1b (7%), public unit trusts increased by $1.0b (1%) and life insurance offices increased by $5.1b (4%).
During the quarter the value of funds under management on behalf of Australian sources other than managed funds increased $11.1b (5%). Of this, the largest increase was funds under management on behalf of trusts other than public unit trusts, $7.8b (8%). There were also increases in the value of funds under management on behalf of Government, $0.7b (5%) and general insurance, $0.4b (2%). Funds under management on behalf of other investment managers increased by $2.5b (4%) while funds managed on behalf of charities and other sources remained virtually the same.
The value of funds under management on behalf of overseas sources increased to $29.3b following a $2.1b (8%) increase from the previous quarter.
Continuing merger activity has resulted in changed reporting arrangements for some fund managers. The ABS continues to work with the relevant fund managers to clarify these changes in reporting and assess their impact on the estimates.
The value of managed funds assets invested through investment managers was $540.1b at 31 December 2004, representing 67% of the consolidated assets of managed funds.
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