Despite having sufficient opportunities to outperform their benchmarks, global property actively managed funds have generally underperformed over the year to 30 June 2011, according to Standard & Poor’s Fund Services (S&P).
S&P analyst Peter Ward said currency hedged global property securities fund performance had been strong "at levels well above what investors should expect over the longer term".
"However, it has moderated from the previous year and active funds’ relative performance has been affected by a variety of less predictable challenges, including macro-economic factors, sovereign debt issues and geopolitical events, as well as natural disasters," Ward said.
This is one of the key findings from S&P’s global property sector review, which covered 17 managers and 20 listed property securities capabilities.
Sector performance volatility for the year has further moderated compared to the 2010 financial year, the sector review found.
There is less difference between the best and worst performing hedged products over the past year compared to the previous year, which reflected the more "benchmark aware approach that a number of active managers have taken".
