RDP 9112: The Role of Superannuation in the Financial Sector and in Aggregate Saving: A Review of Recent Trends Appendix: Data Sources

Unless otherwise indicated, all flow data are on a financial year basis, and stock data are as at end financial year.

1. Asset levels

(a) Life offices

The original data source for total assets, and components, is the Quarterly Statistical Bulletin (Appendices H and J), published by the Insurance and Superannuation Commission. These are reproduced in a more aggregated form in the Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin (Table C.15) and Occasional Paper 8 (Table 3.15).

Life offices total “Superannuation assets” are available from June 1989, from “Assets of superannuation and approved deposit funds” (ABS Cat. no. 5656). Data for earlier years are estimated by apportioning changes in life offices' total Australian assets on the basis of smoothed changes in the share of the “Balance of Revenue account” accounted for by “superannuation” business. The latter are obtained from ISC annual reports.

(b) Superannuation funds outside life offices

From June 1988, total assets for these funds are obtained from “Assets of superannuation and approved deposit funds” (ABS Cat. no. 5656). Earlier data are derived from Reserve Bank financial flow estimates reproduced in Occasional Paper 8 (Table 3.16). Major breaks occur in 1983, due to increased coverage of private funds, and in 1987, prior to the introduction of the new ABS survey.

(c) Banks

Total banking sector assets are published in Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin, (Table B.1, D.3) and Occasional Paper 8 (Tables 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9). Personal sector deposits are defined as the sum of Savings Bank deposits and personal deposits with Major Trading Banks. The latter are obtained from the half-yearly classification of deposits by industry, last published as Table D.10, Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin, November 1988.

(d) Other financial institutions

Total assets of other financial institutions, and of the financial sector as a whole, are published in Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin, (Table D.5) and Occasional Paper 8 (Table 3.4).

2. “Rollover” funds

Asset levels are obtained from TPF&C ADF/Annuity League Table. Net contributions to such funds are estimated as the change in assets less assumed earnings; earnings are assumed to accrue at a rate equal to the yield on three month bank bills.

3. Valuation effects

Equity valuation effects in Graph 3 are estimated as the change in the ASE “All Ordinaries” index over the year multiplied by the value of shares held at the beginning of that year. The latter are obtained from the sources listed under 1(a) and 1(b) above.

4. Household financial assets

Market shares shown in Graph 9 are calculated as shares of the increase in total household financial balances. The figures are 5-year averages, and the total market for household balances is defined as the sum of household financial balances with banks, life and superannuation funds, building societies, cash management trusts, credit unions, common funds and friendly societies. These figures are comparable with those in the Financial Flow Estimates (Reserve Bank Bulletin, November 1989).