Australians’ $4 trillion (US$2.6 trillion) worth of retirement savings could be used as leverage to gain a foothold into the world’s biggest investment market, as industry leaders aim to make a case for more opportunities.
A delegation of Australia’s superannuation leaders, investment managers and peak organisations are in the United States to attend the Super Investment Summit.
There they are expecting to meet with senior officials within President Donald Trump’s administration to discuss further opportunities to invest Australians’ super savings in the U.S., according to Bloomberg.
Australia has the fastest-growing pool of pension funds in the world which is approaching $4.4 trillion (US$2.8 trillion), with analysis from the peak body of superannuation groups projecting the nation will overtake Canada and the UK to become the second largest within the next decade.
The U.S. attracts more than one-third of Australian super investments in the overseas private market, and this is expected to grow from $78 billion (US$49.8 billion) today to $220 billion (US$140.5 billion) by 2035.
But the super funds say deeper collaboration between them and U.S. governments and investors could increase that to upwards of $376 billion (US$240 billion).
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While the U.S. is the top foreign investment destination for Australian super, there are significant opportunities to invest more, Super Members Council executive manager Matt Linden said.
“It’s a win-win—our investments stimulate and strengthen U.S. businesses helping them grow, while Australian super fund members’ retirement savings are boosted from investing in the best U.S. assets,” he said.
The chief executive of Hostplus, David Elia, said strengthening relationships with key U.S. stakeholders will allow the super fund to maximise returns for members.
IFM Investors global external relations head David Whiteley said the summit was an opportunity to position the nation’s super system as a reliable and long-term form of capital for U.S. investors.
