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JUNE KEY FIGURES

	Jun Qtr 2004	Mar Qtr 2005	Jun Qtr 2005
Consolidated Assets	$m	$m	$m
Superannuation funds	375 610	p468 509	p496 339
Life insurance offices(a)	173 141	183 920	188 879
Other managed funds	200 969	219 996	230 036
Total	749 721	p872 425	p915 255
p preliminary figure or series subject to revision
(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

• Total consolidated assets of managed funds institutions was $915.3b at 30 June 2005, an increase of $42.8b (4.9%) from the revised March quarter 2005 figure, reflecting changes in asset values during the quarter. During the June quarter 2005, the S&P/ASX 200 increased by 4.1%, the price of foreign shares (represented by the US S&P 500) decreased by 0.9% and the $A depreciated slightly against the $US by 0.9%. Domestic bond prices fell during the quarter with the 5 year Treasury Bond yield decreasing by 0.3 percentage points.
• Consolidated assets of superannuation funds increased by $27.8b (5.9%), life insurance offices by $5.0b (2.7%), public unit trusts by $7.5b (4.4%), cash management trusts by $2.4b (6.9%) and friendly societies by $0.1b (2.8%). Common funds remained virtually the same.
• Investment managers had $836.9b in funds under management at 30 June 2005, up $20.4b (2.5%) from the revised March quarter 2005 figure. They managed $592.3b (64.7%) of consolidated managed funds' assets.

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

In July 2005 the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released the March 2005 reference quarter edition of their new publication "Superannuation Performance" which replaced their "Superannuation Trends" publication. The new publication uses quarterly data collected by APRA from APRA regulated superannuation funds with assets greater than $50 million, supplemented by estimates for other APRA regulated funds and estimates of small funds regulated by the Australian Taxation Office. The new collection arrangements have been in place since the December 2004 quarter.

From the June 1995 quarter until the December 2004 quarter ABS conducted a quarterly survey of superannuation funds which was used by APRA to compile "Superannuation Trends" and by ABS to compile superannuation fund data in this publication.

Preliminary analysis of the results for the overlapping quarter for the old and new data sources, December quarter 2004, suggest that the previous estimates for managed investments are too low, particularly in wholesale trusts. Consultation with a number of data providers suggest that the new estimates are likely to be more accurate. This finding is consistent with indications of a growing use of "investment platforms" (master trusts, wraps and similar products) by superannuation funds.

ABS has decided to publish estimates based on the old data source estimates to September 2004 and the new data source estimates from December 2004, with a series break at December 2004, pending resolution of the classification differences. As a result:

• the total series in table 3 (unconsolidated assets of superannuation funds) is consistent with estimates published by APRA published for December 2004 and March 2005, after adjustment for assets held by life insurance companies. The June 2005 observation is consistent with progress so far in the APRA survey for June 2005;
• the asset detail of this aggregate is not expected to be publishable until the September 2005 issue of Managed Funds (ABS cat. no. 5655.0);
• a number of other aggregates dependent on superannuation fund aggregates have been noted as preliminary and subject to revision;
• in table 8 (investment managers, source of funds) a component of the December 2004, March 2005 and June 2005 results for "other investment managers" has been re-classified to "superannuation funds" to ensure consistency with the APRA estimates.

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 30 June 2005, consolidated assets of superannuation funds were $496.3b, up $27.8b (6%) since March 2005. Consolidated assets of public unit trusts, life insurance offices and cash management trusts experienced increases of, $7.5b (4%), $5.0b (3%) and $2.4 (7%) respectively. Assets of common funds and friendly societies remained virtually the same at $9.6b and $4.6b respectively.

Cross investment

The table below presents the unconsolidated, cross-invested and consolidated assets of managed funds by type of fund as at 30 June 2005.

	Unconsolidated assets	Cross- invested assets	Consolidated assets
Type of fund	$m	$m	$m
Life insurance offices	220 348	31 469	188 879
Superannuation funds	589 572	93 232	496 339
Public unit trusts	205 481	26 189	179 292
Friendly societies	6 519	1 924	4 595
Common funds	9 954	324	9 630
Cash management trusts	36 520	-	36 520
Total	1 068 393	153 139	915 255
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

UNCONSOLIDATED ASSETS

Life insurance offices

At 30 June 2005, the total assets of life insurance offices stood at $220.3b, an increase of $4.7b since March 2005. Major increases were in equities and units in trusts of $4.9b (4%), long term securities of $1.0b (4%) and cash and deposits of $0.2b (3%). There was a decrease in loans and placements of $0.1b (6%). Assets held overseas decreased by $1.5b (9%).

Public unit trusts

The total assets for public unit trusts was $205.5b at 30 June 2005, up $7.5b (4%) from the revised March 2005 figure. The major increases were in loans and placements and other non-financial assets, up $2.4b and $1.5b respectively. Cash and deposits decreased by $2.1b.

The value of funds under management on behalf of superannuation funds increased by $11.6b (4%), life insurance offices decreased by $3.9b (3%) while common funds remained virtually the same.

During the quarter the value of funds under management on behalf of sources other than managed funds increased $12.1b (6%). Of this, the largest increase was funds under management on behalf of trusts other than public unit trusts, $7.6b (7%). There were increases also in the value of funds under management on behalf of other sources, $3.3b (13%), other investment managers, $1.5b (5%) and general insurance, $0.1b.

The value of funds under management on behalf of overseas sources increased to $29.9b up $1.0 (3%) from the previous quarter.

The value of managed funds assets invested through investment managers was $592.3b at 30 June 2005, representing 64.7% of the consolidated assets of managed funds.