Morningstar’s latest Australian Institutional Sector Survey found international share strategies returned 7.5 per cent and Australian shares 5.3 per cent. Global property gained 1.2 per cent, but Australian property fell 0.8 per cent.
July was better for growth managers, with Australian growth style managers outperforming value managers. The S&P Australia BMI Growth Index returned 6.1 per cent for the month compared to 4.5 per cent for the S&P Australia BMI Value Index.
However, value managers are in front over a longer period, returning 27.5 per cent against 17.8 per cent for growth managers over a 12-month period.
Sector wise, resources was the standout for the year, returning 10.3 per cent, ahead of materials (9.5 per cent), and energy (6.3 per cent).
The poorest performing sectors were consumer staples (1.1 per cent), information technology (1.4 per cent) and industrials (1.7 per cent).
The review found the median manager’s performance closely mirrored the index in July, outperforming by just 0.1 per cent for a 5.4 per cent return for the month. Annualised returns were 26.8 per cent over one year, 9.1 per cent over three years, and 5.9 per cent over five years.
Morningstar said the best performing Australian share strategies over the year to 31 July were Hyperion at 42.2 per cent, Hyperion 300 at 41.4 per cent, and Millinium at 40.7 per cent.
The MSCI World ex-Australia NR AUD Index posted a 45.3 per cent return in aggregate in Australian dollar terms. The median international share fund manager returned 46.1 per cent for the year. Orbis (63.9 per cent), Bernstein Strategic (58.2 per cent) and Wellington (58.0 per cent) were the standout international share funds.
For super funds, the media growth fund returned 3.4 per cent in July, led by Legg Mason Growth (30.8 per cent), Legg Mason Balanced (27.7 per cent), and Maple-Brown Abbott (23.0 per cent).
