Managed funds produce good returns in 2004

Fund flows into managed funds may not have been strong last year, but performance was.

Friday, January 21st 2005, 2:11AM

Research house FundSource says that all sectors produced postive returns, with New Zealand shares and diversified funds delivering strong performances.

The highest returns were generated by New Zealand shares with average fund returns of 17.12% for the year.

“International equity funds showed the influences of an appreciating New Zealand dollar by posting an average 5.33% annual return, though in December they delivered the highest returns, with a sector average of 2.76% for the month alone,” FundSource business manager Tim Anderson says.

The active NZ equity sector averaged 17.12% for the year, up from 16.24% in 2003.

“Two consecutive years of returns in the high double-digits is a pleasing result for those investors who have bucked the general trend away from growth assets and remained loyal to New Zealand Equities in recent years,” Anderson says.

Fisher Funds NZ Growth fund again delivered the highest returns in the sector, and is the top performer over a five-year period. The fund did 26.01% in 2004 and 13.29% over the longer term, compared to the sector average of 7.82%.

The AXA Australasian Selected Equities also has good long-term performance numbers.

The lowest annual return came from the Westpac Selected NZ Shares Trust, with 14.16%, and AMP NZ Shares Trust with 14.89%.

International equity funds returned an average of 5.33% for 2004 and 2.76% for the month of December.

The ASB World Shares Trust ranked first within the sector with 7.42% for the year, and the AMP International Shares Trust was close behind with 7.27%.

Anderson says returns for this sector exceed the relevant index benchmark, the MSCI World Free Gross (33%) index, which returned 3.48% in New Zealand dollar terms over 2004.

Diversified balanced funds returned 7.08% in 2004. Growth and defensive fund performances 8.66% and 4.93% respectively.

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