The latest Mercer sector surveys have painted a grim picture of the last financial year, including pointing to the best and worst performing Australian shares managers over the period.
According to the surveys, released this week, the top five performing Australian shares managers for 2008-09 were Fortis Long/Short, which generated a return of 6.8 per cent, Hyperion Growth, which generated a return of minus 1 per cent, Intrinsic Style Neutral, which generated a return of minus 4.1 per cent, PM Capital, which generated a return of minus 6.3 per cent and Integrity, which generated a return of minus 6.6 per cent.
Looking at the five worst-performing managers over the period, the Mercer surveys pointed to SSgA Long/Short, which returned minus 36.5 per cent, BNY Mellon 130/30, which returned minus 29.3 per cent, Macquarie Long/Short, which returned minus 28.8 per cent, Challenger Select, which returned minus 27.6 per cent, and Plato 130/30, which returned minus 27.6 per cent.
The Mercer analysis made clear that for a second consecutive year, concentration on the large cap stocks would have been beneficial while smaller companies were the worst performers.
