Local markets ride out global uncertainty

TheAustralian share market performed well in March, ending the month up four per cent, a strong showing considering the roller-coaster ride international equity markets have experienced during the Iraq war, the latestInTechsector performance survey has shown.

The listed property market continued its strong domestic performance, with corporate activity surrounding the various AMP trusts largely responsible for fuelling the sector’s ongoing outperformance.

InTech commented that while the Australian market was “exceptionally mixed on a day-to-day basis”, in general the survey found growth stocks outperformed value stocks, large caps outperformed small caps, with financials being the strongest sector.

InTech portfolio manager Chris Thompson says: “The prevailing environment has meant that most managers struggled to add value over the benchmark, in fact, merely matching the benchmark this month equated to a top quartile performance.”

The top performing Australian share managers in March were Jardine Fleming Capital Partners andDeutsche Asset Management(both with 4.9 per cent), andCitigroup Asset Management Australia(4.5 per cent).

In international shares, the benchmark MSCI World ex-Aust Index wound-up the month where it started, despite significant movement during the month.

As for individual manager performance,Fidelity Investments(2.4 per cent),Lazard Asset Management(2.1 per cent) andMerrill Lynch Investment Management(1.5 per cent) delivered the best returns.

The InTech survey also revealed the European ex-UK equity market fell by over 40 per cent for the 12 months ending March 31, with the median manager outperforming the benchmark by just over one per cent.