Investing with confidence: a guide to your super investment options

1 July 2025

Your superannuation is one of your most valuable long-term investments. How it’s invested today can help shape the lifestyle you enjoy in retirement.

When markets are volatile, it’s important to stay calm and avoid making rushed decisions about your investment strategy. Taking a long-term view can help you stay on track and make the most of your super over time.

Understanding a few basic investment principles can help you make informed choices that support your goals and help you live confidently – now and into the future.

Understand your goals, timeframe and risk tolerance

No matter your age or stage of life, it’s important to think about how your super will support you in the future. When considering an investment strategy for your super, it can help to reflect on factors such as the following:

• Your current super balance and how much you may need to fund your lifestyle in retirement.
• How long your money is likely to stay invested.
• How comfortable you are with short-term market ups and downs.
• The amount of investment risk you are comfortable taking at different life stages.

On this last point, if you’re still many years from retirement, you may be able to take on more risk and aim for higher long-term returns. If you are older, you might need to consider reducing your risk and potentially receive lower returns – but it’s also worth remembering that your retirement date isn’t the end of the journey. Many people spend 20 years or more in retirement, so your super may need to keep working for you well into the future.

To better understand your risk profile, try our Investment risk profiler – an online tool that gives you a general idea of how comfortable you are with investment risk¹.

The role of risk and return in super investments

All investments involve some degree of risk, and superannuation is no exception. One of the most common is falling market values, which can cause your super balance to drop (market risk). Returns may also fail to keep pace with the rising cost of living, reducing your purchasing power over time (inflation risk).

Some investments may be difficult to sell quickly when needed (liquidity risk), and switching options during a downturn can lock in losses (timing risk).

Different investments come with different levels of risk and return. Generally, higher-risk assets such as shares fluctuate more but can offer better returns over time. Lower-risk assets such as cash are more stable but may deliver lower returns, especially after inflation.

Brighter Super works closely with expert investment managers to monitor and manage these risks, aiming to deliver strong long-term performance aligned with our goals.

Why diversification matters

Diversification is about not putting all your eggs in one basket. It helps reduce risk by spreading your money across:

• Different asset classes (e.g. shares, property, fixed interest).
• Different regions and industries, to avoid overexposure to one market.
• Both growth and defensive assets, to balance risk and return.
• Different investment managers and styles, bringing a mix of approaches such as active and passive management, or value and growth investing.

A well-diversified investment is less likely to be heavily affected by the poor performance of any single asset or sector.

Brighter Super’s investment philosophy

Our aim is to help grow your super balance steadily over the long term. We do this by focusing on three key strategies that guide our investment approach:

• Achieving strong returns when markets rise.
• Reducing risk when markets fall.
• Building well-diversified portfolios for every investment option.

Our approach is built on the belief that consistent, long-term growth comes from staying invested through market ups and downs – rather than making frequent shifts based on short-term movements.

Reacting to market volatility can lead to missed opportunities, especially since the strongest periods of growth often follow downturns – you can read more about this in our Chief Investment Officer Mark Rider’s essential advice to beat market turbulence.

By combining active investment management with diversification, we aim to deliver more stable returns over time and help members stay on track toward their retirement goals.

Investment options and asset classes

An investment option is a predefined portfolio made up of one or more asset classes – such as shares, bonds and property – designed to meet specific investment goals. Each option has its own return target, risk level and asset allocation.

The combination of asset classes within each option’s portfolio determines its overall investment approach and performance expectations. By choosing an investment option, you're deciding how your super is invested.

Below is a list of the asset classes included in Brighter Super’s investment options:

• Shares (also known as equities) are ownership in companies, traded on stock exchanges such as the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) or New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). They offer the potential for high long-term returns, but prices can rise and fall sharply in the short term.
• Property includes commercial real estate such as office buildings, warehouses and shopping centres. They can generate income from rent and are expected to grow in value over the longer term, offering moderate risk and return.
• Infrastructure assets such as roads, airports and utilities often have long lifespans, provide stable income, and are often less volatile than shares.
• Diversifying strategies may include investments such as hedge funds, insurance-linked strategies and agriculture. They involve different types of risk and return to traditional asset classes, resulting in potentially more stable returns, and aim to provide some downside protection within a broader investment portfolio, particularly against equity or bond market volatility.
• Fixed interest investments, such as government and corporate bonds, pay regular income with lower volatility than shares, helping to provide stability and modest returns.
• Cash includes bank deposits and short-term securities. It’s secure and liquid, but returns are usually low and may not keep up with inflation.
• Private equity involves investing in private companies, aiming to grow value by pursuing an active role in monitoring and advising the company. These investments can deliver high returns but are generally high risk and illiquid.

Find out more about asset classes.

Brighter Super’s investment options

We offer a simple, easy-to-understand menu of investment options to suit different goals, timeframes and risk tolerances - giving you the flexibility and control to grow your super without the complexity.

You can choose our default MySuper option, select from a range of ready-made diversified options, or build your own strategy using single asset class options.

1. MySuper – our default option

MySuper is the default investment option for members with a Brighter Super Accumulation account who have not made an investment choice.

The option has a diversified portfolio that may suit members seeking reasonably high returns who are able to accept modest to significant short-term fluctuations.

2. Ready-made Multi-manager options

Options that are invested in a broad range of asset classes, also known as diversified options.

• Growth – may suit members seeking high returns and prepared to accept significant short-term fluctuations. It primarily invests in growth assets such as shares.
• Balanced – may suit members seeking high returns and prepared to accept significant short-term fluctuations. It primarily invests in growth assets such as shares but has a moderate exposure to defensive assets.
• Conservative Balanced – may suit members seeking moderate returns and prepared to accept significant short-term fluctuations. It invests in growth assets but has substantial exposure to defensive assets.
• Indexed Balanced – may suit members seeking high returns and prepared to accept significant short-term fluctuations. It primarily invests in Australian and International shares.
• Stable – may suit members seeking moderate returns and prepared to accept modest short-term fluctuations. It primarily invests in defensive assets with exposure to growth assets.
• Secure – may suit members seeking relatively stable returns. This is our lowest-risk diversified option, and there may be occasional years where returns are negative. It primarily invests in defensive assets, with a small exposure to growth assets.

3. Single asset class options

Options that only invest in assets within that asset class.

• International Shares – may suit members seeking high returns from international shares only, or for those looking to build their own investment strategy using a mix of single asset class options. In either case, members should be prepared to accept significant short-term fluctuations.
• Australian Shares – may suit members seeking high returns from Australian shares only, or those building their own investment strategy using a mix of single asset class options. In either case, members should be prepared to accept significant short-term fluctuations.
• Property – may suit members seeking high returns from a diversified property portfolio only, or those building their own investment strategy using a mix of single asset class options. In either case, members should be prepared to accept significant short-term fluctuations.
• Diversified Fixed Interest – may suit members seeking modest returns from diversified fixed interest only, or those building their own investment strategy using a mix of single asset class options. In either case, members should be prepared to accept modest short-term fluctuations.
• Cash – may suit members seeking consistent returns on their money with minimal to low fluctuations in the short term, even if returns are low and don’t keep pace with inflation.

Find out more about our investment options.

Further information is also available in the Target Market Determination, which can be found at Product Disclosure Statements and guides.

Track your performance

Brighter Super has an interactive performance graph on its website. It can show you the progress of your investments at any time.

You can see the performance of all investment options, for all account types, over a chosen period. Notes about the calculations are provided on the web page.

Our performance graph is your visual guide to tracking your super's investments.

See how your super’s investments are performing

Investing for the long term

Markets are unpredictable. A long-term mindset and a well-diversified portfolio are key to weathering short-term volatility and staying on track.

With super, time is your advantage. It’s designed to grow over years and decades, and market ups and downs are a normal part of the journey. While it may be tempting to make changes when markets dip, switching options at the wrong time can lock in losses and reduce your future growth potential.

Options such as cash and fixed interest can provide stability but relying solely on these may limit your exposure to growth assets such as shares and property – essential for building long-term wealth.

At Brighter Super, we take a disciplined, long-term approach to investment, supported by expert managers and ongoing risk management.

Although past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns, history shows that markets tend to recover and grow over time. Staying invested through market cycles is often the best strategy.