Australian Pensions Lifting FX Exposure as Offshore Assets Climb

Australia’s pension giants are adding currency risk as their offshore assets surpass half of all investments, with desire for diversification outweighing fears the US dollar’s haven appeal is waning.

Overseas investments accounted for 62% of growth in the value of industrywide assets over the past two years, National Australia Bank’s biennial survey of superannuation funds showed. Offshore holdings are now about 51% of total portfolio holdings on a volume-weighed basis, up from 41% in the 2019 edition, it found.