Australia’s largest superannuation fund just got bigger, growing its member base by 400,000 to 2.3 million Aussie workers and surpassing $200 billion in assets despite the unprecedentedly tough economic conditions that have plagued the country for several months.

Confirming his plans to stay at the helm of AustralianSuper, chief executive Ian Silk has now said that the country’s largest nest-egg manager has further growth plans, setting its targets at becoming a $300 billion giant with a flourishing overseas portfolio.

Over the last financial year, 400,000 Aussies have entrusted their retirement savings to AustralianSuper, helping it tip its AUM over that $200 billion mark. 

Essentially, this means that the super giant raised just under $20 billion in six months, given its AUM stood at $181.7 billion as of the June 30. 

“The milestone reflects AustralianSuper’s ability to use size and scale to provide strong long-term financial returns while also driving down costs for members,” Mr Silk said in a statement issued by the fund this week. 

Mr Silk said the fund’s strong investment performance had been supported by a continuing effort to reduce costs to members.

“Investment management fees have reduced by 30 per cent over the last 10 years,” he said.

“AustralianSuper’s internalisation of investment management has seen members save $200 million alone in the past year.”

According to the giant, a member with $50,000 invested in the Balanced option from 30 June 2006 would have seen that grow to $133,382 as at 30 November 2020. A $100,000 investment for the same period would now be worth $266,763.

Mr Silk said that as well as supporting working Australians to help them achieve their best possible retirement outcome, AustralianSuper also played a significant role in supporting the Australian economy.

“AustralianSuper invests over $43 billion in Australian companies and has been a provider of growth capital to many Australian companies,” Mr Silk said.

“For the past two financial years, AustralianSuper has contributed $590 million a year in new capital to support ASX-listed companies.

“During the period of extreme market volatility earlier in 2020, the fund supported 20 Australian companies with $380 million in new capital to stabilise their businesses.”

AustralianSuper recently cracked the lid on the top 50 largest asset owners in the world. According to the Asset Owner’s 100 research conducted by the Thinking Ahead Institute, AustralianSuper moved up 10 spots to 43rd position.