AustralianSuper Supports Rethinking VC Performance Benchmark
AustralianSuper has endorsed a review of the performance test benchmark for venture capital (VC), arguing the framework should account for the asset class’s extended investment lifecycle. The Treasury’s May 2026 consultation considered possible changes to the superannuation performance test for emerging and alternative assets while safeguarding member outcomes.
AustralianSuper’s head of private equity, APAC, Lilian Fang, emphasized that VC benchmarks need to reflect how returns develop over time, rather than expecting immediate results. “We’re supportive of further work on a well-designed benchmark for emerging assets, provided it reflects how these investments develop over time and doesn’t create an expectation that funds allocate members’ savings to particular asset classes,” Fang stated.
VC Portfolio Growth and Performance
The fund has committed over $1.5 billion to Australian VC, up from roughly $600 million five years prior. Through its investment managers, AustralianSuper has accessed more than 250 domestic startups since 2016 and seven of the nine local unicorns valued at $1 billion or more. The VC holdings account for less than 0.5 per cent of AustralianSuper’s portfolio, which manages more than $430 billion for 3.6 million members.
Fang noted the portfolio’s youthfulness necessitates longer-term performance assessments. Over the long term, VC investments have outperformed the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index by a “comfortable margin,” she said. However, valuations and returns can fluctuate significantly with market conditions, with substantial value in younger funds often remaining unrealized.
Strategic Investment Approach and AI Exposure
AustralianSuper has built its exposure through managers including Blackbird, Square Peg and AirTree Ventures. This diversification spans companies, sectors, development stages, and investment periods. Higher interest rates have intensified focus on revenue quality and profitability paths, but the fund does not automatically reduce VC exposure during tighter conditions.
“Our approach is to make commitments over different periods rather than attempting to predict the top or bottom of the cycle,” Fang explained. “This provides exposure to different investment vintages, while our pace of investment and selection process remain responsive to valuations, financing conditions and the quality of opportunities available.”
Artificial intelligence has reshaped the opportunity set, with AI’s share of Australian VC investment rising from 7 per cent during the 2020–22 investment boom to 23 per cent. Australia had more than 470 venture capital-backed AI start-ups valued collectively at US$34.9 billion as at May 2026. For Fang, the question is not whether every company in our VC portfolio succeeds, but whether the portfolio as a whole is delivering an appropriate long-term outcome for members after accounting for risk and costs. To date, the answer to that question is an unequivocal yes.
