Local share managers lead world

Australian shares managers have run rings around their overseas counterparts, returning on average 11.5 per cent over the calendar year compared to a negative 9.3 per cent return for international share managers.

The resilience of the Australian economy to global events was a distinguishing factor in the performance of Australian compared to international equities managers, with value managers performing better than growth mangers in both groups.

According toIntech Financial Services, value managers ended the year on a high, filling the top five performance positions.

They included Lazard andPerennial Value, returning 26.2 per cent and 23.9 per cent respectively, followed byTyndallat 23.6 per cent.

Lazard attributed its performance to significant stock-specific contributions from investments made in the materials and capital goods sector, realising profits from investments in both Wesfarmers and MIG.

Meanwhile, Tyndall’s commitment as a deep value investor guaranteed its strong performance, selecting undervalued stocks such as Boral, Amcor, Foodland, Jupiter’s and Paperlinx, and avoiding notably underperforming sectors such as insurance, energy, media and infrastructure.

Value managers also dominated the international shares sector, with Bernstein returning 7.2 per cent and Marathon 5.1 per cent.