Growth superannuation funds and institutional fund managers continued their strong start to 2013 on the back of positive global share market performance, according to new Morningstar data.
Morningstar has published the results of its February Australian Superannuation survey and Australian Institutional Sector survey, which provide coverage of the performance of Australian-offered retirement savings vehicles and Australian institutional investment strategies respectively.
The median growth superannuation fund returned 2.2 per cent, with individual funds ranging between 1.2 per cent and 4.5 per cent growth.
In addition, growth assets contributed to the strong results for multi-sector options, as Australian shares rose 5.3 per cent, as measured by the S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index
The super funds in the Morningstar Multi-sector Growth category held an average allocation to equities of 58.1 per cent at the end of January, while the average allocation to property was 7.5 per cent.
The best-performing growth super funds over the three years until the end of February were Legg Mason Balanced and REST Super Core, both at 9.2 per cent.
According to the Australian Institutional Sector Survey, positive returns continued for Australian shares. The performance of the index was up 5.3 per cent over the month and other growth assets also achieved positive results.
Results indicated international shares were up 1.9 per cent, Australian real estate investment trusts 3.5 per cent, and global property 1.7 per cent.
Also, value shares outperformed their growth counterparts for the month. The S&P Australia BMI Value Index returned seven per cent, compared to four per cent from the S&P Australia BMI Growth Index.
According to the survey, consumer staples was the 'standout' sector of the Australian share market for February, at 10.8 per cent. Poorer-performing sectors included materials (-0.3 per cent), resources (0.4 per cent), and information technology (0.5 per cent).
The median Australian share fund manager outperformed the index by 0.3 per cent with a return of 5.6 per cent for the month, Morningstar reported.
In Australian dollar terms, international share markets were up in aggregate, according to the survey. The MSCI World ex-Australia NR AUD Index posted a 1.9 per cent return for February and 16.5 per cent over the year.
Magellan, Wellington Growth and Principal were the best performing international share funds over the year to the end of February, according to Morningstar. The median international share fund manager returned 1.9 per cent over the month and 16.2 per cent over the year.
In the Australian property securities sector, the best performer over the year was Legg Mason. The sector gained 3.5 per cent over the month and 33.8 per cent over the year until the end of February, Morningstar reported.
