Which Aus equity funds know how to bounce back?
As the end of the year nears and the global financial crisis (GFC) has almost fallen off investors’ radars, Money Management used FE Analytics to see which Australian equities funds crumbled as a result of the GFC but managed to bounce back with vigour.
The greatest fall of the GFC was subsequently the greatest comeback the following year, with Perpetual’s Wholesale Geared Australian equity fund dropping down to -72.14 per cent but jumping up to a whopping 93.95 per cent in the next discrete period.
It wasn’t the only fund leaping three quartiles in the year either, with the Maple-Brown Abbott Australian Geared Equity fund dropping to -68.49 per cent in the GFC and bouncing back to 42.94 per cent the following year.
AMP Capital’s Specialist Geared Australian Share fund hit -67.19 per cent and leaped to 67.45 per cent the next year, while the Ausbil Australian Geared Equity fund jumped from -66.55 per cent to 71.56 per cent, and CFS’ Wholesale Geared Share fund shot up from -65.1 per cent to 88.71 per cent.
The table below shows the performance of the 20 Australian equity funds which fell to the bottom quartile as a consequence of the GFC and leaped to top quartile the following year.
|
Name |
Performance 31/12/2007 to 31/12/2008 Annualised (%) |
Performance 31/12/2008 to 31/12/2009 Annualised (%) |
|
Perpetual Wholesale Geared Australian ATR in AU |
-72.14 |
93.95 |
|
Maple-Brown Abbott Australian Geared Equity ATR in AU |
-68.49 |
42.94 |
|
AMP Capital Specialist Geared Australian Share ATR in AU |
-67.19 |
67.45 |
|
Ausbil Australian Geared Equity ATR in AU |
-66.55 |
71.56 |
|
CFS Colonial First State Wholesale Geared Share ATR in AU |
-65.1 |
88.71 |
|
Pendal Geared Imputation ATR in AU |
-56.58 |
56.81 |
|
Fiducian Geared Australian Share ATR in AU |
-51.21 |
56.31 |
|
DDH Selector Australian Equities ATR in AU |
-50.95 |
58.47 |
|
PM Capital Australian Companies ATR in AU |
-47.75 |
60.71 |
|
Janus Henderson High Conviction Australian Equity ATR in AU |
-46.52 |
48.89 |
|
CBG Australian Equities ATR in AU |
-45.81 |
44.12 |
|
Perpetual Wholesale Ethical SRI ATR in AU |
-44.61 |
68.5 |
|
Platypus Australian Equities Trust ATR in AU |
-44.54 |
46.62 |
|
Alphinity Australian Equity ATR in AU |
-43.36 |
51.72 |
|
Legg Mason Martin Currie Select Opportunities ATR in AU |
-42.84 |
51.14 |
|
Janus Henderson Australian Equity Institutional ATR in AU |
-42.5 |
43.81 |
|
WaveStone Australian Share ATR in AU |
-42.46 |
44.41 |
|
Dimensional Australian Core Equity Trust ATR in AU |
-41.12 |
43.99 |
|
Macquarie Australian Shares ATR in AU |
-41.09 |
52.18 |
The enormous growth of the funds was not necessarily sustained, with the Maple-Brown Abbott Australian Geared Equity fund, which shot up from the bottom quartile, unable to maintain its top quartile position in 2009, dropping back to the bottom quartile in the years following.
Perpetual’s Pure Value Share fund, on the other hand, was among some funds which were able to maintain top quartile positions in the years following the GFC, not just immediately after.
The fund produced top-quartile returns of 26.16 per cent in 2010, -3.58 per cent in 2011, 23.69 per cent in 2012 and 24.51 per cent in 2013. It only dropped to third quartile in 2014 and again in 2016 but managed to return to the top quartile last year with 15.81 per cent returns.
Other funds that produced the top average returns for the years following 2010 were CI Brunswick, Perpetual Wholesale Ethical, Ausbil Australian Geared Equity and Lazard Select Australian Equity.
The chart below shows the performance of the five funds that produced the highest average returns from 31 December 2009 to 31 December 2017.
Recommended for you
Perpetual has seen AUM rise 6 per cent in the last quarter but the departure of a longstanding JOHCM fund manager led to outflows of $2.2 billion from his strategy.
Global fixed income fund Bentham Global Opportunities has been added to several major platforms, enabling it to be accessed more easily by financial advisers.
Following yesterday’s news about First Sentier Investors closing four investment teams, a second global asset manager has announced it is closing its only dedicated Australian fund.
As ASIC chair Joe Longo pushes firms to prepare for the upcoming mandatory climate disclosure regime, what skills are necessary if firms are looking to expand their ESG teams?
