Superannuation assets continued to fall in the September quarter, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

The 2.7% decline comes after a similar drop of 2.79% in the June quarter. Super assets now stand at $505.7 billion.

Steve Davies, APRA’s Head of Statistics, says that while assets have declined, there had been an increase in the number of member accounts and contributions over the period, which raises various questions for the industry. “Recent declines come on the back of a decade which has seen strong growth in superannuation assets,” he said.

APRA is “working closely” with the industry to provide further insight into the statistics and what they mean for superannuation fund members, he said.

The number of member accounts rose by 2.4% during the quarter to 24.8 million. Contributions increased by 1.5% from $50.7 billion to $51.4 billion in the same period. Benefit payments (excluding outward transfers) up to September 2002 rose by 8.2 % to $33.7 billion.