The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its annual superannuation statistics for the year ended June 30, 2020 – containing information on funds and membership profile, key financial performance metrics, financial position, fees, and expenses.

APRA's latest data revealed a total of $2.9 trillion superannuation industry assets in the year ended June 30, 2020. Of this total, APRA-regulated superannuation entities held $1.9 trillion and self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), which are regulated by the ATO, held $0.7 trillion. The remaining $210 billion were split into exempt public sector superannuation schemes ($147 billion) and the balance of life office statutory funds ($63 billion).

Small funds including SMSFs, small APRA funds, and single-member approved deposit funds accounted for 25.6% of total assets. Meanwhile, retail funds held 20.7% of total assets, industry funds held 26.0%, public sector funds had 23.6%, and corporate funds held 2.0%.

From June 2015 to June 2020, the total superannuation industry assets increased by 44.0% from $2.0 trillion to $2.9 trillion. APRA-regulated assets also increased by 56.1% from $1.2 trillion to $1.9 trillion and SMSF assets 29.0% from $569 billion to $733 billion.

During the same period, the number of SMSFs jumped by 11.2% from 533,000 to 593,000, while the number of APRA-regulated funds decreased by 28.5% from 2,517 to 1,800. The decrease of 717 APRA-regulated funds over this period comprised of 89 entities with more than four members and 628 small APRA funds.

Read more: APRA releases general insurance statistics for September

Superannuation members' benefits also increased in the year to June 30, 2020, from $2,018.3 billion to $2,023.9 billion. However, the number of member accounts decreased by 11.7% from 26.4 million to 23.3 million due mainly to sweeps of inactive low-balance accounts the ATO under the PYSP reforms.

Members aged 50 years and over accounted for 67.5% of members' benefits ($1,365.3 billion) and 35.4% of member accounts (8.3 million). Meanwhile, members aged under 50 years accounted for 32.1% of members' benefits ($650.4 billion) and 64.3% of member accounts (15.0 million).

From June 2015 to June 2020, members' benefits increased by 35.7% from $1,491.4 billion to $2,023.9 billion. However, the number of member accounts decreased by 19.5% from 28.9 million to 23.3 million.