EOFY: The four sectors that delivered positive full-year returns


Just four, representing a quarter of the ASX 200 sectors, saw positive returns during the 2019/20 financial year as markets were hit by the market downturn in early 2020.
While markets performed well during the first half of the financial year, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a hit to markets in March 2020 and led to increased turbulence and volatility for the remainder of the financial year.
The ASX 200 lost 8% during the financial year after being hit with losses of 36% from its February peak to 23 March as a result of the crash, although it had since rebounded, according to FE Analytics data.
Healthcare was the best-performing sector with returns of 26.4% followed by technology at 16.6% and consumer staples at 13%. Consumer discretionary also managed to report a smaller positive return of 3.2%.
The worst-performing sectors were energy which lost 29.3% and financials which lost 22.2%. The pain for energy stocks was caused by the lack of travel and lack of manufacturing as well as a falling oil price as a result of the social distancing and border closures necessitated by COVID-19.
Recommended for you
Selfwealth has provided an update on the status of its scheme implementation deed with Bell Financial Group as well as whether rival bidder Svava remains in the picture.
Magellan Financial Group has reported its first half FY25 results while appointing a new chief financial officer and promoting Sophia Rahmani to chief executive.
Schroders Australia has launched two active ETFs and plans to further expand its listed range over the year ahead.
Platform Netwealth has reported its financial results for the first half of FY25, reporting an 80 per cent increase in net flows, with its CEO viewing a “huge opportunity” from private assets.