In its Australian Institutional Sector Survey, Morningstar said fund managers in Australia performed above the market by a median of 0.8 per cent over the year and 0.1 per cent over the month.
By contrast, international share fund manager’s returned 14.7 per cent over the year.
In the Australian market, Morningstar suggested the best-performing share strategies were Millinium with returns at 15.1 per cent, Lincoln at 12.8 per cent and Allan Gray at 12.3 per cent.
The best international share funds were Carnegie (22 per cent), T. Rowe Price (19 per cent) and BlackRock (18.4 per cent).
The survey also identified the median Australian property securities manager performed slightly below market over the year, gaining 26.8 per cent compared to the index’s 27 per cent.
The standout performers were Legg Mason, with returns of 29.2 per cent, Principal at 28.6 per cent and Colonial First State at 27.9 per cent.
Shares in the industrial sector recorded the best results on the Australian equities market in the month to December 2014, the survey said.
Morningstar found the industrials sector returned 5.8 per cent over the month to December.
Other high-performing sectors were healthcare, returning 5.6 per cent, and telecommunications, returning 4.5 per cent.
On the contrary, weak sectors included resources, where returns were at -2.6 per cent, consumer discretionary at -2.2 per cent and energy at -1.7 per cent over the month.
