Share funds have a bumper 2009

Equity funds come up with a strong year end result in terms of performance for New Zealand managed funds, according to FundSource.

Friday, January 22nd 2010, 7:57AM

Over the 12 months to December 31, NZ Equity (Active) and NZ Equity (Australasian) have delivered average returns of 30.0% and 39.0% respectively.
The Australian and New Zealand markets have continued to reflect the improved tone of domestic and international economic data by boosting investor confidence and encouraging investors to return to the market.

"Last year has seen quite a lot of volatility in markets and you would expect variations in returns across fund managers that adopt different investment strategies," FundSource business manager TJ Singh says.

The equity sector started last year at a low base, in the midst of the global financial crisis, which serves to make the percentage uplift appear quite extreme by year end. Generally speaking, funds which follow a high risk-high return strategy and have an exposure to small cap companies have gained the most during this volatile period.

Over the 12 months, the top performing sector was the International Equity (Australian). "People are willing to accept the prospect of fast economic recovery. Funds with Australian exposure have done particularly well, as economic conditions in Australia have been stronger than expected and China's economic relationship with Australia has continued to spur Australia's economy.

The latest monthly managed fund performance report from FundSource shows the top performing sector in the month of December as the NZ Equity (Active) averaging 4.1%, contributed by fund managers such as Fisher, Tower, ING and AMP with performance of greater than 5% for the month of December. The NZ Equity (Passive) sector was also positive and produced returns of 3.1% on average in December.

The International Equity (Global) sector also saw a turn-around in returns for December, averaging positive 12.7% for the 12 months compared to the negative annualised returns of the previous two years and three years to 31 December. As a sector International Equity (Global) funds have averaged 5.1% per annum over the last five years. The International Equity (Global) funds averaged returns of 1.7% for the month of December.

"It is good to see active managers have been able to recoup some of the losses of previous years. We are well into a new business cycle and managed funds offer a diverse range of options to investors seeking to gain international exposure," said FundSource Business Manager, TJ Singh.

TOP 10 NZ Equity funds 2009

Name	1 Year Returns
PIE Australasian Growth Fund	104.88%
Asteron SP2000 NZ Small Co Fund*	66.40%
Asteron Superplan NZ Small Co Fund*	65.40%
Guardian Small Companies Fund	60.86%
TOWER FuturePlan NZ Cos Fund*	46.79%
TOWER FreedomPlan NZ Cos Fund*	45.33%
Brook Alpha Fund	35.62%
Brook Tasman Fund	33.73%
Fisher Funds NZ Growth Fund	32.28%
Fisher Funds Premium NZ Fund	30.52%