January sees Aussie broad caps soar
Given 2018 probably wasn’t the best year for Australian broad cap equities, with the last quarter rubbing salt in the wound, Money Management thought it would be apt to review the performance of those funds to see how those funds kicked off the new year.
It’s immediately clear Aussie broad caps got off to a good start, with the top fund for January (bar geared funds), the CBG Australian Equity fund, returning 6.25 per cent as compared to the top fund for January last year, DDH Selector Australian Equities, which returned 4.64 per cent.
The fund, which was also in the top quartile last year with returns of 1.90 per cent, also managed to outperform its benchmark, the S&P ASX 300, which returned just 3.83 per cent.
In general, the S&P ASX 300 was off to a better start in 2019 than it was in 2018, given it returned just 0.47 per cent in January last year. The sector average, 3.60 per cent, was also more than triple that of this time last year, which was 0.43 per cent.
In second position was the BetaShares Australian Ex-20 Portfolio Diversifier ETF, which returned 5.66 per cent, followed by consistent top performer, Lincoln Australian Growth, which returned 5.65 per cent.
The second and third-top funds returned over three per cent more than their 2018 counterparts, Macquarie Australian Shares and CFS Acadian Wholesale Australian Market Neutral, which returned 2.23 per cent and 2.25 per cent respectively.
Platypus Systematic Growth and Arnhem Australian Equity completed the top five for January, returning 5.46 per cent and 5.43 per cent respectively.
Most top quartile funds in January 2018 managed to retain their position this year, but CFS’ Acadian Wholesale Australian Market Neutral sat at the bottom of the bunch for the same period this year, returning just 0.54 per cent.
The chart below shows the performance of the top five funds in January 2019 as compared to the sector average and the S&P ASX 300.
AUTHOR
Anastasia Santoreneos
Recommended for you
Infrastructure assets are well-positioned to hedge against global uncertainty and can enhance the diversification of traditional portfolios with their evergreen characteristics, an investment chief believes.
Volatility in US markets means currency is becoming a critical decision factor in Australian investors’ ETF selection this year.
Clime Investment Management is overhauling the selection process for its APLs, with managing director Michael Baragwanath describing the threat of a product failure affecting clients as “pure nightmare fuel”.
Global X will expand its ETF range of exchange-traded funds next month with a low-cost Australian equity product as it chases ambitions of becoming a top issuer of ETFs in Australia.
