Alternatives boosting fund resilience
Superannuation funds with strong allocations into alternative assets were able to largely withstand a downturn in October, according to the latest data released by Sydney-based ratings house, SuperRatings.
The SuperRatings data revealed that median fund returns fell by 1.6 per cent in October, bringing financial year-to-date returns to 3.2 per cent.
SuperRatings managing director Jeff Bresnahan said the strong start to the financial year had been temporarily halted during October, with the average super balanced investment option losing 1.6 per cent over the month.
However, he said the interesting thing to emerge in the SuperRatings data was the effect of asset allocation on the results.
Bresnahan said those funds holding high levels of alternative assets appeared to have been practically immune from the downturn of the equity markets.
“Westscheme and MTAA Super, who both have above average exposure to alternative asset classes, recorded significantly better results than many other funds with [their] losses capped at minus 0.7 per cent and minus 0.9 per cent respectively,” he said. “The worst results for the month exceeded minus 3 per cent, which highlighted the effectiveness of alternatives as a buffer against equity markets.”
Recommended for you
AZ NGA has partnered with an Adelaide-based accounting and financial planning practice as it expands its presence in South Australia.
The central bank has released its decision on the official cash rate following its November monetary policy meeting.
ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of a Melbourne-based managed investment scheme operator over a failure to pay industry levies and meet its statutory audit and financial reporting lodgement obligations.
Melbourne advice firm Hewison Private Wealth has marked four decades of service after making its start in 1985 as a “truly independent advice business” in a largely product-led market.
