NZ Superannuation Fund performance on target

The Board of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation has announced the investment returns for the New Zealand Superannuation Fund for the year to 30 June 2004.

The Fund began investing following the transfer of $2.40 billion in Treasury bills on 30 September 2003. An additional $1.39 billion in contributions was made to the Fund in the subsequent nine months to 30 June 2004. The balance of the Fund at 30 June 2004 was $3.985 billion. Investment income during the year (after fees but before tax) was $239 million.

The Fund’s primary investment target is to exceed, before tax, the risk-free rate of return (effectively the yield on Treasury bills) by an average of at least 2.5% per annum over rolling 20-year periods. During its first nine months of operation this target was exceeded with an annualised (time-weighted) return of 10.4% compared to a risk-free rate, calculated on the same basis, of 5.3%.

Guardians’ Chairman David May cautioned against reading too much into performance over such a short time period, given the long-term nature of the Fund’s investment program.

“It is important to remember the long-term mandate that has been given to the Guardians for the investment of the Fund. Our focus will always be on building an investment strategy to deliver over future decades. Results over a period as short as one year should be seen in that context.”

He said the Fund had accomplished what it set out to achieve in its first nine months.

“Over the first nine months, the portfolio was gradually transitioned from cash to be fully allocated to investment managers. There are now 15 managers appointed covering a range of mandates in fixed interest and equities.”

The asset allocation at 30 June 2004 was as follows:

This exposure is broadly consistent with the Fund’s published strategic asset allocation (http://www.nzsuperfund.co.nz/web/pageID/2145826365/index.asp).

However, in line with the Board’s decision not to allocate assets to either property or other growth assets during the first year, the exposure to each of the above sectors has been temporarily increased to cover this. The Board plans to explore how best to address property and other growth assets in the 2004/5 year.

The external investment management firms appointed by the Guardians as at 30 June 2004 were as follows:

Sector	Manager		Amount held as at 30 June 2004 (NZD millions)
New Zealand Equities	AMP Capital Investors		$172.6
Brook Asset Management		$172.3
Fisher Funds Management		$51.2
New Zealand Fixed Income	ING (NZ) Ltd		$472.6
International Large Cap Equities	Alliance Capital Management		$252.8
Barclays Global Investors		$1,350.8
Bernstein		$202.8
LSV Asset Management		$214.7
International Small Cap Equities	AXA Rosenberg		$121.6
Goldman Sachs Asset Management		$40.3
Grantham, Mayo & Van Otterloo		$121.0
Numeric Investors		$81.1
Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley		$82.2
Emerging Markets	West AM		$79.4
International Fixed Income	Vanguard Investments Australia		$560.5
Cash	Held by BNP Securities Services as custodian		$9.5
TOTAL		$3,985.4 million

The performance in each sector was broadly in line with market indices (after fees). Many managers held their mandates for only a few months of the 2003/4 year and their effectiveness will be better judged over the full 2004/5 year. More information about the appointed managers, the sectors in which they specialise, and the mandates they have been given, can be found at http://www.nzsuperfund.co.nz/web/pageID/2145826361/index.asp

As at 30 June 2004 the top holdings of the Fund were as follows:

Market value		% of Fund
New Zealand Equities
Telecom	$66,786,904		1.67%
Contact Energy	$31,959,186		0.80%
Carter Holt Harvey	$30,823,943		0.77%
Fletcher Building	$22,054,046		0.55%
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare	$18,839,713		0.47%
Auckland Int. Airport	$15,735,136		0.39%
Sky City	$14,333,476		0.36%
Guinness Peat Group	$12,475,121		0.31%
NGC Holdings Ltd	$9,805,214		0.25%
Fisher & Paykel Appliances	$9,252,194		0.23%
International Equities
Citigroup Inc.	$37,041,198		0.93%
Bank of America	$27,949,471		0.70%
General Electric	$27,792,492		0.70%
Pfizer Inc.	$26,744,647		0.67%
JP Morgan Chase	$23,741,595		0.60%
Intel Corporation	$22,575,614		0.57%
Johnson & Johnson	$19,406,949		0.49%
BP Plc	$18,690,823		0.47%
Merck & Co	$17,590,293		0.44%
Microsoft Corp.	$17,255,852		0.43%

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Comments from our readers

On 30 November 2010 at 2:34 pm Anon said:

Although the performance over the first 9 months was indeed nearly twice that of the cash hurdle rate the fund has been in operation for 85 months and over the full period the excess return over cash has been only +1.18% p.a. rather than the +2.5% target. In return for earning just over 1% over cash investors have had to bear 20 times more risk ( volatility of 10.7% versus 0.53% for cash ) as evidenced by the -26% drawdown in calendar 2008. Volatility remains too high and there is insufficient emphasis on downside risk protection.

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