Your members have less money in their super accounts than what they started the year with. They are angry. Here’s what you should be saying to them, according to GABRIEL SZONDY.

It’s been several years since Australian superannuation funds have had to report bad news to members. But the 12 months to June 30 2008, has been a year for negative returns – a shock to a system that has been enjoying doubledigit growth. The six-year bull run on domestic and international equities has come to a juddering halt, replaced instead by the uncertainty and volatility of a bear market (from a high in November 2007 to June 30, 2008, markets globally shed 28 per cent of their value), concerns about a global recession, including Australia, and the ongoing fallout from the subprime credit crisis.