Morningstar has published results of the Morningstar Australian Institutional Sector Survey, providing comprehensive coverage of the performance of Australian institutional investment strategies to 31 January 2013.
The Australian Institutional Sector Survey is designed to enable institutional investors, superannuation trustees, asset consultants, and other market participants to meaningfully compare Australian investment strategies.
Key Findings
- The month of January saw solid results across growth assets. Australian shares was up 5.0 percent, international shares 4.6 percent, Australian real estate investment trusts 4.4 percent, and global property 3.6 percent. The Australian shares index?s result was among the four best monthly returns recorded in recent years and was the highest monthly return the S&P/ASX 300 Index has reached since 31 January 2012. In the period following the Global Financial Crisis – March 2009 to 31 January 2013 – the index has gained 72.8 percent or 15.0 percent on an annualised basis.
- Information Technology (14.7 percent) was the standout sector of the Australian sharemarket over the month of January. Consumer Discretionary (8.6 percent) and Financials (6.5 percent) also provided solid results over the month. Poorer-performing sectors included Materials (1.5 percent), Resources (2.2 percent), and Utilities (2.6 percent).
- The median Australian share fund manager outperformed the index by 0.2 percent with a return of 5.2 percent over the month of January. Longer-term annualised returns for the median manager were 20.2 percent over one year, 6.7 percent over three years, and 2.5 percent over five years. The best-performing Australian share strategies over the year to 31 January 2013 were Hyperion 300 (36.2 percent), followed by Dalton Nicol Reid (35.4 percent), and Hyperion (33.9 percent).
- International sharemarkets were up in aggregate in Australian dollar terms. The MSCI World ex-Australia NR AUD Index posted a 4.6 percent return for the month of January and 18.0 percent over the year.
The median international share fund manager returned 4.7 percent over the month, 18.3 percent over the year, and 4.9 percent over the three years to 31 January 2013. Magellan (30.3 percent), Wellington Global Growth (25.1 percent), and Templeton (24.9 percent) were the best-performing international share funds over the year to 31 January 2013. - The Australian property securities sector gained 4.4 percent over the month and 31.7 percent over the year to 31 January. The best performers over the year were Legg Mason (41.3 percent), followed by UBS (38.5 percent), and Zurich (35.9 percent).
The UBS Composite Bond Index returned -0.2 percent for the month and 7.3 percent over the year to 31 January 2013. Macquarie Core Plus (11.3 percent), AMP Capital (11.0 percent), and Goldman Sachs (10.8 percent) were in pole position among Australian fixed income strategies for the year to 31 January 2013.