POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Time to revisit fixed interest
Global consultancy Towers Watson has urged superannuation fund trustees to revisit their fixed interest allocations to ensure their configurations remain relevant.
In an analysis made public this week, Towers Watson said a prolonged period of inverted yield curves and tight credit spreads, followed by the global financial crisis and subsequent issues in global sovereign bond markets, had presented a challenging range of environments for fixed-income portfolios.
“If investors have not already done so, we believe that it is an appropriate time to revisit the objectives for this asset class and to ensure that portfolio and manager configurations remain fit for purpose,” the analysis said.
It said that trustees needed to consider more than just the percentage of their allocation towards bonds, and to also take account of duration and consequent exposure to risk factors.
On the question of active versus passive management, the Towers Watson analysis said there was no one-size-fits-all solution and that certain factors, including investor belief, comparative costs, complexity and fund size, had a large bearing on the issue.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
Recommended for you
AustralianSuper has reported a 9.52 per cent return for its Balanced super option for the 2024–25 financial year, as markets delivered another year of strong performance despite the complex investing environment.
The profit-to-member super fund’s MySuper default option has returned 9.85 per cent for the financial year 2024–25.
Colonial First State (CFS) has announced solid double-digit returns for its MySuper balanced and growth equivalent funds during the financial year.
The super fund’s Future Saver High Growth option delivered an 11.9 per cent return for the financial year 2024–25, on the back of a diversified portfolio and actively managed investment strategy.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
92.15 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
53.24 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
43.15 3 y p.a(%)
4
DomaCom Shoreline North Coogee
36.26 3 y p.a(%)
5
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
35.87 3 y p.a(%)
