As advisers head into the new financial year, looking for the silver lining on last year’s grey clouds, unusual facts are emerging in various investment sectors.
According to the latest figures from Intech research, the biggest surprise was the surge in resources stocks which posted 21 per cent in the past financial year, after suffering a dreadful slump last year with a negative 29 per cent in the previous year. Diversified resources was the top performing resource sector returning 30 per cent while on the other hand gold recorded negative 18 per cent.
Industrials had to settle with a relatively modest 15 per cent gain compared to last year’s 13.5 per cent. The continuing boom in telecommunications was a leading light in Australian industrial shares and returned 52 per cent with transport also scoring well at 46 per cent. Banking and Finance stocks returned a solid 18.5 per cent – only marginally down from the previous year’s figures.
Large and small capitalisation stocks also showed a wide margin of difference in comparison to last year’s figures, while listed property gained just over 4 per cent.
Growth stocks outperformed value stocks at home and abroad returning 17 per cent and 13 per cent respectively on the domestic front. Overseas growth stocks gained 18 per cent compared to value stocks at 13 per cent as measured by the MSCI index.
The continuing pull of global changes, chief among them the Asian and Russian economic uncertainties, dogged decisions for investors looking beyond our shores.
Nonetheless, international bonds performed well, the best performing bond market being the UK at 11 per cent, however it was well down on the previous year’s 39 per cent.
This general downturn in figures from Europe this year was repeated in the share market results, showing the biggest drop from 69 per cent in 1998 to 2 per cent for the past financial year.
Table
How sectors performed last financial year
1999
Australian shares
All Ordinaries 1.6 15.3
Resources -29.2 20.7
Industrial 13.5 14.7
Small Caps -14.6 20.9
Large Caps 3.9 14.8
International shares
Pacific (Ex-Japan) -31.8 40.0
USA 57.2 24.3
Japan -17.5 13.6
Europe (Ex-UK) 69.3 1.6
Fixed interest
Domestic Bonds 10.6 3.1
International Bonds (hedged) 11.0 5.5
Source: Intech
