The recent round of strong one year numbers for Australian equities funds should be tempered with the knowledge that one year ago, the markets were being battered by the tech wreck and the associated downturn in telecommunication, media and technology stocks.
The latest intech figures show the average Australian shares fund gained 17.6 per cent in the year to May 31, more than 4 per cent higher than the S&P/ ASX 200. However, when the median manager returned 9.5 per cent in the year to March 31, just two months ago, the doomsayers were casting shadows over double digit returtns for superannuation funds this financial year.
The past two months have been kind to fund managers, rising 5.9 per cent in April and 1.7 per cent in May, but the fact that the market fared badly in March and April last year has added an extra glow to the figures.
Dimensional Fund Advisors looks like taking out the coveted best Australian shares performance prize, returning 28.1 per cent in the year to May 31. There is then a two per cent gap to the next best performer, Maple-Brown Abbott and a further two per cent to resurgent Tyndall.
The best performing funds for the year are likely to have had substantial weighting to the banking sector which returned 24 per cent in the year to May 31. They are also likely to have shunned the telecommunications and media sectors, which lost 21.7 and 13.4 per cent respectively.
One manager that has had a disastrous year in missing the rise in banks and falling with the telecommunications sectors, BT Funds Management has recorded by far the lowest Australian equities return of 2.5 per cent. The next worst performers are County and Credit Suisse, which both recorded 10 per cent returns for the year to May 31.
