2025 in super: the peaks and the flows

Working Australians and new parents scored some big wins this year with compulsory employer super payments rising to 12% of eligible earnings on 1 July. 

Recent ‘payday super’ laws mean from 1 July next year, employers will need to pay super at the same time as wages – all of which is expected to boost Australians’ super savings. 

The amount of money you can transfer tax-free to start a pension from your super also rose to a new high this financial year – of $2 million.

Cyber incidents and investment losses affecting other super funds sadly hit some Australians hard, while the corporate regulator warned self-managed super funds may also leave many Australians worse off. 

New rules are changing the way many Australians pay for Aged Care. 

And average super growth fund returns topped 10.5% in the year to 30 June 2025 - even higher than the previous year’s 9.1%*.

President Trump’s announcement of Liberation Day tariffs on US trading partners on 2 April sparked a sharp drop in markets, followed by a rapid rebound. Investors had been uneasy about policy uncertainty in the US, but when markets recovered after tariffs were suspended for 90 days, that set the tone for the cautious optimism that prevailed for much of the year.

Equities were not the only winners, with gold prices soaring, bond yields rising to unexpected highs while pushing up borrowing costs for businesses, and emerging markets growing strongly. 

Meanwhile the longest US government shut-down in history ended on 13 November after 43 days that left markets largely in the dark about the US job market and economic growth.

And a tepid response to NVIDIA’s solid recent results has investors wondering if high tech share prices are on the wane and cryptocurrency prices fell after peaking in October.

What a year it’s been at CFS, with more than $170 billion** entrusted to our care by our customers across almost a million super, pension and investment accounts. 

We expanded our Retirement services, conducting more than 22,000 one-on-one guidance calls with customers, and we enhanced the digital experience, including making personalised percentage and dollar returns available via our mobile app.

Looking beyond returns, we kept admin fees low (at less than half the industry average)^#, customer service standards high – with fewer complaints than every other big super fund^†, and we were consistently the fastest payer of death benefit claims^^.

We were named No.2 in retirement satisfaction by CoreData^## – and we were proud to be named Australia’s Best Super Fund by Mozo for 2025^††.

Now as 2025 draws to a close, we want to thank you for trusting CFS to invest your money.  Have a safe and happy holiday period. We’ll leave you with some holiday reading – here are some of your favourites from the year that was.

Four flashpoints to avoid when passing on wealth

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How to claim these three EOFY super wins

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Secret financial habits of wealthy Australians

Ever wondered how the well-off manage their money, compared with the average Australian. Find out

Investing an inheritance from $10k to $100k

Whether you inherit $10,000 or $100,000, here’s what to consider, whatever your life stage. Learn more

Key pension changes to know for the 2025-26 financial year

Changes to the Age Pension assets test may mean more money for you. Read now

Super Transfer Balance Cap reaches $2m: What you need to know

$2m might seem like a big super pension balance, but several things could lead to a breach. Read more

CFS is prepared for times of market uncertainty

The CFS Investment team is experienced at managing risk in uncertain times. Learn more