Maple Brown Abbott tops Mercer balanced fund quarterly survey

Maple Brown Abbott PST headed up Mercer Investment Consulting’s balanced funds performance survey for the first 2005-06 quarter, returning 4.2 per cent or 1.2 per cent over the median balanced fund return for the quarter.

IOOF Balanced PST returned 3.9 per cent to rank second on the Mercer table, while Vanguard Index-growth and Hyperion Balanced Fund ranked equal third with a 3.6 per cent return.

Mercer’s leading balanced fund over the 12 months to September 30 this year was Suncorp Balanced on 14 per cent, compared to a median 12.5 per cent, followed by AMP Capital Growth and Invesco Wholesale Growth PST, both on 13.8 per cent.

Vanguard Index — High Growth outperformed on Mercer’s survey of growth funds for both the three months and 12 months to September 30, returning 3.9 per cent and 15.5 per cent respectively.

MLC Growth Option took out second place for the three months to September 30, compared to a median 3.3 per cent for the period, while Zurich High Growth placed second for the 12 months to September 30, compared to a 13.5 per cent median.

Mercer found that a “buoyant reporting season and a healthy level of corporate activity” drove the Australian equities market forward over the September quarter, despite some volatility.

“The September quarter produced positive returns for investors across all the main asset classes, with all markets buoyed by a long awaited interest rate pause in the US, easing inflation concerns, and a fall in the price of oil, it said.