19 February 2026
This month, we caught up with the Investment Team at AustralianSuper to discuss what’s driving investment markets.
2025 was another strong year for investment returns. In particular, share markets continued to perform well. International shares delivered the highest return across our asset classes during the calendar year. These returns haven't been as concentrated in US tech stocks recently, and that market broadening has benefited our active management approach. Unlisted assets have shown improvement, particularly in private equity and private credit. Meanwhile, more defensive asset classes like fixed interest and cash have delivered steady but more modest returns. Investing in a well-diversified portfolio across asset classes can help cushion the impact when markets are volatile.
Artificial intelligence continues to drive economic growth and investment performance. We've seen hundreds of billions of dollars invested in the tech sector, and that's contributed to strong corporate earnings and returns. In that environment, unlisted asset classes have lagged listed markets. But we're starting to see them catch up. At the same time, listed valuations are now high and the AI cycle is maturing. We don’t believe we’re necessarily in an AI Bubble yet, but we are considering a number of factors for the year ahead, including debt levels in the tech sector. Our investment team is focused on participating in the upside if markets continue to rally, while maintaining diversification to invest through the market cycle.
Interest rates and geopolitics are two big considerations. Interest rates are important because they control how easily people and businesses can borrow money. And that drives things like spending, prices and profits. In 2025, economic growth was supported by many central banks lowering rates. But many of those central banks have since slowed or paused their easing cycles – and we just saw the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increase the official cash rate by 0.25%. Separately, geopolitics continues to dominate headlines – both through international conflict and trade escalation. Despite this, we expect to see most economies, including the US and Australia, continue to grow this year. Our investment team continues to actively manage risk and uncertainty in the portfolio to support members' long-term retirement outcomes.
Sponsored by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd, ABN 94 006 457 987, AFSL 233788, Trustee of AustralianSuper ABN 65 714 394 898.
This information may be general financial advice which doesn’t take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making a decision about AustralianSuper, you should think about your financial requirements and refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement available at australiansuper.com/PDS or by calling 1300 300 273. A Target Market Determination (TMD) is a document that outlines the target market a product has been designed for. Find the TMDs at australiansuper.com/TMD.
