Investment options
We offer ten investment options to help you meet your financial goals. You can choose to invest in any of the pre-mixed options as well as in the asset class options.
Four pre-mixed investment options
Diversified across asset classes to match different investor risk profiles
Six single asset class investment options
Allow you to determine your own asset allocation
Term Deposits
The Term Deposit investment option invests in the fixed term deposit products of Australian Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) chosen by Mine Super, such as banks, building societies and credit unions.
We recommend you read our Product Disclosure Statement and seek financial advice before investing in the Term Deposit.
Latest Term Deposit interest rate
There is no interest rate available at this time. If you apply now you'll be invested at the next Term Deposit interest rate, which will be published on Monday afternoon, 30 April 2018.
Transaction Account interest rate
The current gross interest rate for the Transaction Account is shown below. The interest you’ll receive will fluctuate with movements in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s cash rate less any applicable tax.
From 1 July 2017 the Transaction Account interest rate is 1.8% pa before tax.
About your Term Deposit investment
Valid applications received by us by 5pm on a Wednesday when rates have been published for that week will be invested that week. If you don't make this cut off you'll be invested the week we next have a Term Deposit available.
See our Product Disclosure Statement and Term Deposit fact sheet for more information.
Invest in the Term Deposit investment option
You can invest in the Term Deposit at any time by completing the Invest in a Term deposit option form and posting, emailing or faxing it to us.
Standard risk measure
We measure the investment risk of our investment options using the super industry’s standard risk measure. The standard risk measure helps you compare investment options between different funds.
How does the standard risk measure show risk?
The standard risk measure describes risk based on how many negative annual returns you can expect over 20 years. It places this risk into one of seven risk labels, ranging from very low to very high.
Example
If the risk is ‘low’, we’d expect one or less years of negative returns over 20 years. If the risk is ‘high’ we’d expect between four and six years of negative returns over any 20 year period, as shown in the table below.
These negative returns can be experienced several years apart or several years in a row within the 20 year period.
How is the risk for each option worked out?
We used Mercer’s Capital Market Simulator to calculate each option’s risk. Mercer is our investment adviser.
What kind of information does the simulator consider?
The simulator considers how returns and volatility are affected by different economic conditions, such as inflation, economic growth and asset prices. The simulator uses predictable information, for example, using past prices to predict future prices and assuming conditions eventually return to normal, but also throws in some random events. To ensure the resulting risk labels are conservative, the simulator also incorporates extremely negative conditions, like those that occurred during the global financial crisis in 2008.
How are the risk labels determined?
The simulator creates 2,000 portfolio returns over 20 years, resulting in 40,000 possible outcomes. It then determines the most common outcome to work out the probability of a negative return in one year. This is then multiplied to find the probability of negative annual returns over 20 years for each investment option, resulting in the risk labels as shown in the table below.
| Investment option | Estimated number of annual negative returns over any 20 year period as at 1 September 2014* | Standard risk measure risk band | Standard risk measure risk label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aggressive | 3.0 | 5 | Medium to high |
| Growth | 2.4 | 4 | Medium |
| Balanced | 1.7 | 3 | Low to medium |
| Stable | 1.4 | 3 | Low to medium |
| Australian Shares | 4.7 | 6 | High |
| International Shares | 4.2 | 6 | High |
| Property | 2.7 | 4 | Medium |
| Bonds | 1.3 | 3 | Low to Medium |
| Cash | 0.0 | 0 | Very low |
| Term Deposit | 0.0 | 0 | Very low |
* These negative returns can be experienced several years apart or several years in a row within the 20 year period.
Investment costs
The Mercer’s Capital Market Simulator meets regulatory guidelines and takes into account active investment management fees. However, it doesn’t consider the impact of administration fees.
What else should I consider when thinking about the risks of my super investments?
The real world is complex and not always rational. This means mathematical theories may not always play out in practice. So while the standard risk measure can help you understand your investment risk, it shouldn’t be the only consideration.
For example, the standard risk measure doesn’t show you:
- How big a negative return will be
- Whether you’ll get the returns you’re after
- How fees and taxes will impact your return
- Other risks faced by investors, such as market risks, liquidity risk and credit risk.