Superannuation has suffered a bad reputation over the years, but this is mainly because of the perception that the government are continually changing it, and that investors tend not to separate the Structure from the Asset Allocation Design.

The structure can be simplified to cover the following:

• Taxation System - Superannuation has its own system separated from you and the Income Tax
• Contributions - there is multiple ways to get funds into superannuation each has different benefits
• Withdrawal - to keep the goal that superannuation funds are for retirement there are limitations on how to access the money

However when it comes to the assets allocation most Australian's are invested in a Balanced Fund, which unlike the name is actually not balanced at all, and is where the problem begins during market troubles like the Global Financial Crisis and the European Debt Crisis. The end result is most Australian's get dissatisfied with their superannuation

It is for this reason that at Jason Dawson Financial Planning (JDFP) we do not use Balanced Funds, your superannuation assets will be specifically designed based on your personal circumstances and not a generic branded Balanced Fund.

Unlike most advisers we use a combination of three methods used to design a client portfolio:

• Step One - Bucket Method
While the Bucket Method was originally designed for the full portfolio design we find it works best using this method at the top of the process only, eg: the broad strokes in the design.
• Step Two - Risk Profile Method
Next is to use the Risk Profile Method on each bucket, this will further shape and mould the portfolio design and its normal at this step to have a broad asset allocation completed but not specific assets.
• Step Three - Hub and Spoke Method
While finally the Hub and Spoke Method will add the detail to the portfolio completing the asset allocation.