Super investment performance update: September 2026

For the three months to 30 September 2026, our Growth, Balanced, Australian Shares, International and Defensive options all delivered positive returns, building on the performance we have maintained for members over the long-term. After a period where rising energy and materials prices favoured parts of the market we steer away from, this quarter reflected a shift back toward the themes at the heart of how we invest.  

At Australian Ethical, we invest in companies building things the world genuinely needs, across clean energy, healthcare, smarter technology, and the infrastructure holding modern life together. Our Ethical Charter steers us toward these future-focussed industries and assets, because we believe they represent the strongest long-term opportunities for growth, and our job is to keep your super aligned with those goals, not the mood of the moment. 

What's been driving share markets

Ongoing conflict in the Middle East pushed oil prices higher again in recent months. When oil becomes more expensive, the cost of making and moving goods rises with it, which means households and businesses end up paying more for most everyday things (and not just petrol). Central banks respond to this by lifting interest rates, the Reserve Bank of Australia included. Higher interest rates ripple through investment markets in ways that affect the value of almost everything, but they also create genuine opportunities for investors who know where to look. 

Higher interest rates affect the value of almost everything when they ripple through investment markets. This creates risks but also opportunities for active investors with a long-term view.

Where we are invested and why

When interest rates rise, bonds become more attractive. A bond is essentially a loan made to a company or government, and the interest paid on that loan increases as rates go up. We added to our bond holdings during this period, which gave the portfolio a more stable, income-generating foundation while equity markets were moving around. 

We also leaned into two longer-term themes that sit at the core of how we invest: growing healthcare demand and the transition to renewable energy, both central to the core of how we invest. In healthcare, our Ethical Charter consistently guides us toward companies aiming to solve real problems for a growing and ageing population, whether that is treatments for chronic conditions, medicines that genuinely extend quality of life, or diagnostics that catch illness earlier. When other investors rotate into short-term trending areas, healthcare companies can temporarily become cheaper than they deserve to be. We use those moments to add to the businesses we already believe in. That patience delivered results over the last three months.  

You can read more about specific examples in last month's blog here.  

On energy transition, we have continued to invest in electrification, including companies building EV charging infrastructure and those supporting the broader shift to renewables across homes, businesses and industry. When global conflicts push oil prices up, the people and businesses least exposed to fossil fuel costs are the ones who have already made the switch. The more we invest in that transition today, the less vulnerable households and the broader economy will be to energy price shocks in the future.  

The more we invest in that transition today, the less vulnerable households and the broader economy will be to energy price shocks in the future.

Thinking about Artificial Intelligence

Investor enthusiasm for AI has continued to push prices higher in companies building the technology and the infrastructure around it, including chip makers and data centres. The prices many of these companies are trading at leave little room for error, and our Ethical Charter shapes what we will and will not invest in regardless of how popular an area becomes. If a company's governance structure is problematic, or it is not managing its environmental footprint responsibly, it does not qualify. Equally if we think its overvalued based on our financial models, we won’t invest. 

We also think there are deeper questions worth sitting with, questions about where these technologies are taking us and what guardrails need to exist for them to serve people well rather than disadvantage them. Technology can be a force for good through connection, access and efficiency, but it needs human guidance, and we will have more to say on this as our ethics research evolves. 

Technology can be a force for good through connection, access and efficiency, but it needs human guidance. This is an area our ethics research team will have more to say on in coming months.

What we heard from Australian companies

Every August, Australia's listed companies report their financial results for the year, and it is one of the most valuable periods in the investment calendar. Our team met directly with the management teams and boards of the Australian companies we hold, which gave us the chance to go beyond the numbers and understand how leadership is thinking about the road ahead. 

We typically invest in businesses for multiple years, based on what we believe they are genuinely worth, and earnings season is the moment where we test that thinking against reality, checking our assumptions, asking hard questions, and updating our views. What we heard in August gave us confidence in many of the businesses we hold. We strengthen our positions in several and, where something had shifted or our conviction had changed, we sold. That is active investing in practice. 

Investing for the long-term

Higher energy prices can create headwinds in any given quarter, and that can show up in short-term returns. Your super is well diversified across different types of investments and regions, which helps manage those ups and downs while keeping the portfolio positioned for the opportunities we see ahead, particularly in technology, healthcare, and the assets supporting long-term economic change. 

We will not always benefit from every short burst of performance in sectors we choose not to invest in. But over more than 40 years, the same disciplined approach guided by the same Ethical Charter has consistently led us toward stronger, more durable growth areas. You can feel confident that your super is invested with care, discipline, and a clear long-term focus on your financial future. 

Super option investment performance

To explore Australian Ethical’s investment options and their performance, visit our super and pension performance pages. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.