AUSTRALIA’S superannuation industry is booming, with public sector, corporate and industry funds outpacing retail funds, and funds with at least $100 million returning an average of 6.7 per cent a year over the past 10 years.

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) figures show small funds and industry funds are recording the biggest growth.

But corporate funds are not doing as well in terms of growth because the sector is consolidating. But in terms of performance, corporate funds were way in front, followed by public sector and then industry funds. Retail came last.

There is another reason for the low growth of corporate funds: employers are getting out of the superannuation industry and handing it over to the professionals, predominantly in the retail funds.

An APRA analysis of the past 10 years of superannuation data reveals that small funds and industry funds grew at rates of 22.7 per cent and 22.5 per cent, respectively.

Retail funds, excluding eligible rollover funds, grew 17.5 per cent and public sector funds grew 12.8 per cent. Corporate funds grew only 2.2 per cent.

The 10-year average return for all superannuation funds with assets of at least $100 million was 6.7 per cent.

For industry funds it was also 6.7 per cent, and for retail funds it was 5.3 per cent.

Public sector funds were in front with an 8 per cent return. Corporate funds also did well with a 7.8 per cent return.

The top industry funds were pulling in more than 9 per cent. But half the industry funds were tracking at just over 6 per cent. By way of contrast, corporate funds were making returns of more than 8 per cent.

All up, the worst-performing funds in the corporate sector did better than the best retail funds in terms of their asset weighted 10-year return on assets.

The differences in percentages might have serious effects on the value of end returns over the 10 years, particularly for those who have made the wrong choice.

But AXA chief investment officer Mark Dutton said much of the growth in the assets of retail funds was no longer reflected in retail superannuation products. These would not have been recognised in the APRA report, but were driving a big part of the retail funds’ business.

“Mostly what they appear as is investment product, typically what you might call wholesale trusts sitting on wrap platforms, which get used by the platform adviser as an investment vehicle for the superannuation funds,” Mr Dutton said.

“They may not be as recognisable as superannuation funds in their own right, but that’s where a lot of the money and growth is. Super is the driver for the growth, but the trusts are one of the main vehicles through which super is invested.”

The report highlights a significant change in Australia’s investment market since the superannuation guarantee, which quarantines 9 per cent of a person’s income, came into force in 1992.

Despite a period of relatively low inflation, the average rate of asset growth was 14 per cent, driven high by improved contributions and increased investment earnings.

However, the report implied that not everyone was gaining equal benefit. Some low-income employees had no accounts. Another issue was that other employees were not getting such high returns because they had spread their savings over many accounts, and the problem seemed to be getting worse.

May 27, 2007 — So much for Conrad Black as a suit-wearing bank robber.

After 10 weeks of testimony and five key witnesses, prosecutors have yet to put one victim on the stand who would tell of being defrauded by this one-time press baron.

This, after the government promised the jury in its opening statement to prove Black was nothing more than a bank robber who wore a suit. Prosecutors charged that he and his three co-defendants “betrayed the trust of thousands of public shareholders.”

Yet the jury hasn’t seen a smoking gun - no explicit evidence that Black and his work pals conspired to defraud investors in his Chicago-based newspaper company, Hollinger International.

Instead, the jury has heard the testimony of David Radler - Black’s turncoat deputy and a self-confessed liar - as well as audit committee members who clearly were asleep at the switch; a former minion who backtracked from his tale of Black’s looting; and more than a dozen other bit players.

With lawyers for Black and each of the three other defendants getting to take a crack at the witnesses under cross-examination, the credibility of most of the major witnesses was put to the test.

Radler had no documents to back up his claim.

Under a blistering cross-examination, the admitted liar told the jury that he had no idea he might get out of jail in as little as six months by cooperating with investigators - a claim the largely blue-collar jury would undoubtedly find hard to fathom.

While no one can accurately read how a jury is leaning, there’s a palpable feeling in the courtroom that few are ready to convict Black. And the defense won’t begin its case until later this week.

With the government unable to land a knockout blow, chances are slim that Black will feel the need to take the stand - always a risky proposition.

“If you look at the star witnesses, each one had a stake in pointing the finger at Conrad Black,” said Steven Skurka, a Canadian trial lawyer who is attending the trial as a legal analyst for Canadian broadcaster CTV. “There are no victims here. It’s not an Enron, so it doesn’t follow the corporate greed wave.”

janet.whitman@nypost.com

THE Coles Group takeover is coming under intense pressure as Wesfarmers’ shares closed below $40 for the first time since Australia’s biggest deal was announced early this month.

The sagging share price has wiped more than $2 billion from Wesfarmers boss Richard Goyder’s original $21 billion bid to Coles shareholders, which includes a significant share component.

After a full-day meeting yesterday, Coles chairman Rick Allert and his fellow directors will sit down for a second day of board meetings this morning to weigh their options amid rising shareholder concern about the waning value of the deal.

“There is no doubt Coles shareholders want more money,” a source close to the transaction said.

Coles shares have also fallen, closing at $14.82 yesterday, well under the $15.25-a-share offer from private equity firms led by KKR that the board rejected in October.

Wesfarmers was the only buyer left for the troubled supermarket company after private equity left the auction process, killing off prospects of a bidding war.

With only a few weeks left before the Coles board has to decide whether to ultimately back the deal, market players said the directors would be mindful of the Qantas debacle, in which shareholders scuttled the board-backed takeover, leaving the reputations of the airline’s directors in tatters and prompting chairman Margaret Jackson to resign.

Under Wesfarmers’ current proposal, Coles shareholders will get $4 in cash and 0.2843 Wesfarmers shares for every share they own, plus a 25 dividend that they will receive before voting on the deal in October. The offer was worth $17.25 when it was announced on July 2, but has since dropped to $15.58 because of the share slump.

Both companies are believed to have talked about whether to sweeten the offer with a so-called “mix and match” component that would let shareholders choose whether they wanted to receive a larger part of the payment in cash or shares, and allow them to limit their exposure to the falling share price or capital gains tax, respectively. Spokesmen for Wesfarmers and Coles declined to say whether Wesfarmers had tabled a firm proposal for such an option.

“I suspect the Coles board would like a higher cash component,” said Paul Xiradis, a fund manager who oversees more than $10 billion at Ausbil Dexia. “It’s about finetuning and trying to satisfy the smaller shareholders.”

While dealing with Wesfarmers, Coles was also hoping to revive the interest from private equity, Goldman Sachs JBWere said in a note last night. Its chances are slim after a global readjustment in credit spreads, which has stopped the worldwide surge in takeover buy-outs.

Under their agreement, both Wesfarmers and Coles can walk away from the deal if Wesfarmers shares average less than $40.18 for four weeks before the deal is finalised in October.