Managed funds sector continues to grow
Funds investing in local and global property securities and blend-style share funds were the dominant players among Australian managed funds launched during the past 12 months.
According to Morningstar, in the year to December 31, 2006, the research house added a further 543 managed funds to its database, bringing the total number of managed funds available to Australian investors to more than 9,500 options.
Of this number, 61 of the 543 managed funds or 11.23 per cent were new investment strategies to the market, with the remaining 482 funds or 88.76 per cent representing the addition of existing strategies to other fund managers’ master trust platforms and investment administration services.
The research house said retail funds accounted for more than three-quarters or 77.50 per cent of new fund launches.
Morningstar also found Skandia, Asteron, Challenger, and Colonial First State launched the most new managed funds in 2006.
The firm also found just under half of funds or 44.93 per cent launched were superannuation funds, with the remainder divided between 30.93 per cent in unit trusts and 22.65 per cent in pensions.
Local markets also faired well, with large-cap blend-style Australian share, Australian listed property funds the most popular fund categories for new launches. Among domestic share funds, blend-style funds dominated fund launches in both the large-cap and small-cap market segments.
Among international share funds, large-cap and growth-style funds dominated fund launches, with global listed property also proving popular.
However, only two new mid/small-cap funds were launched during 2006.
Diversified funds investing across world share markets remained Australian fund managers’ preferred new options, although continuing interest in ‘the Asian story’ led to the launch of 15 new funds investing in Asian share markets.
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