Australians Ditch Pension Firms to Run $600 Billion on Their Own

It was late 2014 when Timothy Yang’s pension balance hit rock bottom. The meager contributions from his low-wage job at a fast-food restaurant in Melbourne were no match for the fees quietly draining his retirement savings. He stuck with the fund, but a decade later had just over A$20,000 ($12,500) saved.

When his fund merged last year, the 29-year-old cashed out and decided manage his own pension. Twelve months later, thanks to well-timed bets on Nvidia Corp., CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. and Bitcoin, his retirement savings have surged 75% to A$35,000 — double the median for Australians his age.

Yang, ...