Property funds see strongest 2018/19 returns



Despite falling house prices in Sydney and Melbourne, Australian-listed property funds soared during the 2018/19 financial year with over half of the sector returning more than 15 per cent.
The ACS Property-Australian Listed sector contained 67 funds at the end of June, 2019 and 36 of these returned more than 15 per cent over one year to 28 June while 14 returned more than 20 per cent, according to FE Analytics.
This compared to returns of 11.5 per cent by the ASX 200 over the same period and was an improvement on the sector’s previous year’s returns of 10.7 per cent.
The returns made the ACS Property-Australian Listed sector the best-performing sector out of all 36 ACS sectors with average returns of 16.2 per cent. Looking at the other property sectors featured, the ACS Property-Global sector returned 10.2 per cent and the ACS Property-Australia Direct sector returned 1.9 per cent.
The best-performing individual fund in the sector was the $234m VanEck Australian Property ETF which had returned 27.2 per cent over the period and the $68m Macquarie Property Securities fund which returned 26.3 per cent. None of the 67 funds saw losses over the period but the worst-performing one was OnePath OA Investment Portfolio OnePath Heine Property Securities which returned 2.8 per cent.
The worst-performing ACS sector of the year was the ACS Alternative sector which returned 0.42 per cent over the year to 30 June.
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.