Tumbling Wall Street not so super

Billions of dollars lost in the US stockmarket will negatively affect Australian superannuation returns this year. Several Australian super funds have invested in companies that have been adversely affected by the credit crisis.

Some funds have used unsecured Australian money, also known as ‘kangaroo bonds’, set to decline in value as the US heads towards recession. When the bonds are priced or marked to market, this is considered a loss in a fund portfolio.
 
Kangaroo bonds totalling $12 billion were held with Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, both of which have taken a hammering from the US subprime mortgage crisis.