John McMurdo
Australia’s original ethical investment manager Australian Ethical (ASX: AEF) has continued its track record of delivering market-leading financial returns for its members with positive impact for the planet.
According to new data from leading research house SuperRatings, the Australian Ethical Balanced (MySuper) option ranked third for its one-year performance in a year dominated by the COVID crash. With returns of 2.4% p.a., it was among just 15 of the options in the SuperRatings SR50 Balanced Index to generate a positive return for members.
Australian Ethical also reported an increase in funds under management to $4.05 billion this week and record net inflows of $660 million as a growing number of Australians look to Australian Ethical for investments that do well while doing good.
John McMurdo, Australian Ethical CEO, said: “This has been a pivotal year for Australian Ethical and these performance results reinforce what we have long known – that our style of investing can generate consistent outperformance while having a positive impact on the world even during the most challenging environment.
“These have been unprecedented times for not just global economic activity and stock markets, but for all of us personally. To end such a turbulent year with market-leading returns for our members and record flows into our superannuation and managed funds products is testament to the experience and commitment of everyone at Australian Ethical.”
Performance highlights
- The Australian Ethical Balanced (MySuper) option ranks number 3 in SuperRatings Top 10 balanced options for returns over 12 months
- Australian Ethical increased funds under management by 18.6% to $4.05 billion as at 30 June 2020 (up from $3.42 billion as at 30 June 2019)
- Australian Ethical saw record net inflows of $660 million over the financial year to 30 June 2020 (across both superannuation and managed fund product)
Comments from Australian Ethical Chief Investment Officer David Macri: David Macri, Australian Ethical Chief Investment Officer, said: “Our domestic equities portfolios have performed very well again this year, leading to excellent relative performance for the Balanced (MySuper) option of our super fund.
“Over the years we have developed unique portfolio construction processes that lead to portfolios that are quite different to the market indices, with a skew to small caps, where we have demonstrated an ability to generate consistent significant alpha.
“In addition to our outperformance in small caps, our sector positioning has also contributed to this year’s performance. For example, we are underweight to the banking sector and overweight in the healthcare and IT sectors. Our performance in the unlisted property asset class was also market-leading, thanks to the underlying funds we selected using our process.
“I’m really proud of these results which I hope will put an end to the myth that ethical investing is only about doing the right thing, not generating financial returns.”