This week we've heard a lot about PM Anthony Albanese's success with Donald Trump. Deals were signed, hands were shook. But one detail has emerged this week that shows that Australian superannuation funds will now be expected to invest a lot more - think over a trillion dollars - of their assets in the US and the UK following a range of political manoeuvres. Here's what it means.

A trillion extra dollars flowing to the US?

For a brief period this week, a fact sheet posted on the US Embassy in Australia’s website in the name of the President made a striking claim: Australian superannuation funds would lift their investments in the United States to $1.44 trillion by 2035. That's almost $1 trillion more than current levels.

The statement, part of the Albanese government’s official visit, promised these investments would “create tens of thousands of new, high-paying jobs for Americans.” Curiously, the document has since stopped working online (you can read the original here), but the message was clear: Australia’s retirement savings are set to play a significant new role in building the US economy.

Even without the fanfare, the underlying trend is hard to miss: our super is being invested overseas more and more. Especially in light of the UK's moves to capture our super dollars this week.

London calling

The global ambitions of Australia’s biggest super fund, AustralianSuper, were on full display this month with the launch of a major new push into the UK rental housing market. Announced in London on October 20, the fund has committed an initial £500 million (A$1.1 billion) to create a UK Living platform—its most significant foray yet into international real estate.

AustralianSuper wants the platform to become one of the top five operators of rental homes in the UK within five years, targeting a blend of student, co-living, and residential accommodation. The first cab off the rank is a student housing project in Bristol, now under construction and due to be completed in 2027. But this is only the start. The fund is actively scouting high-demand urban centres across the country, aiming to scale up rapidly in locations anchored by research universities and growth industries.

And AustralianSuper’s move is not happening in a vacuum. The announcement was timed to coincide with a major Australian Superannuation Mission to the UK—two days of meetings with UK policymakers, institutional investors, and super fund executives. According to Reuters, more than a dozen Australian funds and asset managers joined the mission, collectively overseeing more than $1 trillion. The agenda: foster innovation, break down barriers to investment, and channel superannuation savings into “nation-building” UK projects.

We could see more deals of this magnitude in the near future, as UK firms court Australian super cash in an ongoing charm offensive.