“Super funds have ridden a wave of positive sentiment over the past few months, and this has been reinforced by strong earnings growth, especially in the US and Europe,” said SuperRatings CEO Kirby Rappell.

“Despite the imminent threats to the market rally, from trade wars to Brexit to the emerging economic crisis in Turkey, nothing seems to be putting a dent in confidence.”

Closer to home, however, share performance has slid, thanks in part to the financial sector’s royal commission woes.

SuperRatings said while Australian shares continued building throughout July, global shares provided the fuel for strong returns.

The median balanced option returns to 31 July 2018 were 10.3 per cent for the rolling one-year return for accumulation funds and 11.4 per cent for pension funds.

While the median balanced option has returned 6.7 per cent over the last 10 years, meaning a $100,000 balance a decade ago would now be $183,158, these returns have been impacted by the global financial crisis.

“Once these acute negative returns fall out of the 10-year return period, we will start to see a noticeable lift, which will provide a truer picture of the health and stability of super funds over the long term,” Mr Rappell said.