Recent events in global investment markets, including doubts over the ability of some European countries to repay their debts, and worrying figures from the US, such as the downgrade of their credit rating, high unemployment and weak house prices, have caused uncertainty in share markets around the world. 

While at home here in Australia the success of the mining sector has had a positive impact on our economy, we are still part of the global economy, so we're not immune from the negative fallout from events worldwide.

All of this has left investors feeling understandably nervous.

Although the recent market volatility will have an effect on superannuation accounts - because most of us have at least some of our super invested in shares, we would like to take this opportunity to remind our members that it may, depending on your situation, make sense to stay focused on your long-term investment strategy.

The severity of the current conditions has made many people nervous, however, smart investors with a long-term strategy remain calm, recognising that in order to achieve higher long-term returns it is necessary to accept some short-term pain in the form of short-term volatility.

Market cycles are unpredictable, but history has shown that recoveries generally follow downturns and vice versa.  Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict when a market will rise or fall.  However, if you look at the long-term historical performance of share markets, it's important to note that markets have generally recovered,and in fact have performed well over the long term, despite any short-term ups and downs.Of course, past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.

Thinking about long-term returns is especially important for an investment like super because for most of us, our superannuation investment is locked away for quite a long time - often for me than 10, 20 or even 30 years.

The following graph shows that despite a number of short-term ups and downs, $1,000 invested in Australian shares has grown to almost $7,000 over the 20 year period shown.

It also shows how the same $1,000 would have fared if you'd decided to use a cash type investment like a bank account over the same period. Even with the Global Financial Crisis factored in to date, you still would have made more than twice as much by holding shares throughout the period.

We understand the importance of making sound investment decisions in all types of investment markets.  That's why after a thorough process, the Trustee chose Mercer to be our investment manager.  Given Mercer's reputation and experience as an investment manager, we know our investments are in expert hands. As a global investment management and consulting firm, Mercer has had a strong presence in Australia since 1971 and continue to be one of the country's leading investment firms. Globally, Mercer provides invesment advice on over $3 trillion and manages around $17 billion of that on behalf of its clients in Australia.

Mercer is assisting the Trustee in monitoring the current investment market situation. The Trustee believes the long-term investment strategies for the Fund remain sound and is committed to remaining focussed on achieving the Fund's long-term investment objectives.