Summer Australian Equities
Summary of investment objective and strategy
To achieve long-term returns (before fees, taxes and other expenses) greater than the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index, 50% hedged to the New Zealand dollar.
These investments typically have very high levels of movement up and down in value.
Strategic investment mix
| Category | % |
|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents | 5.00% |
| New Zealand fixed interest | 0.00% |
| International fixed interest | 0.00% |
| Total income assets | 5% |
| Australasian equities | 85.00% |
| International equities | 0.00% |
| Listed property | 10.00% |
Risk indicator
The risk indicator is rated from 1 (low) to 7 (high). The rating reflects how much the value of the fund’s assets goes up and down (volatility). A higher risk generally means higher potential returns over time, but more ups and downs along the way.
* The composite benchmark for each multi-asset class fund is made up of the single asset class benchmarks weighted by the target asset allocation for the asset class.
Minimum suggested investment timeframe
At least five years
Fund at a glance
Unit price (as at 30 November 2025): $2.1773
Fund returns
| PIR | Total since inception (annualised) | 1 Month | 3 Month | 1 Year | 3 Years^ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.5% | 8.56% | -1.08% | -0.64% | 5.57% | 9.64% |
| 17.5% | 8.32% | -1.1% | -0.62% | 5.47% | 9.42% |
| 28% | 7.96% | -1.13% | -0.58% | 5.32% | 9.09% |
^ Annualised
Fund returns are calculated net of fund charges, trading expenses and accrued tax for a New Zealand resident individual paying tax at the Prescribed Investor Rate identified above.
Top 10 investments
| # | Asset name | % of fund net assets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BHP Group Limited | 7.72% |
| 2 | Commonwealth Bank of Australia Limited | 6.09% |
| 3 | Westpac Banking Corporation | 4.67% |
| 4 | CSL Limited | 4.32% |
| 5 | Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited | 3.78% |
| 6 | ANZ transactional bank account | 3.44% |
| 7 | National Australia Bank Limited | 3.33% |
| 8 | Macquarie Group Limited | 2.58% |
| 9 | Rio Tinto Limited | 2.35% |
| 10 | Telstra Group | 2.34% |
| Top 10 investments total | 40.62% | |
Manager's Commentary
How did your portfolio perform?
The Summer Australian Equities Fund (the fund) delivered a return net of fees and before tax of -1.04% during November.
For the 12 months to the end of November, the fund delivered a return net of fees and before tax of 5.72%.
Key positive contributors to performance in November were our overweight position in Mining Services company Emeco Holdings (EHL) and our underweight position in Commonwealth Bank (CBA). Our out of index position in EHL continued to outperform in November, rising 15%, with the stock up ~51% this year. Management have delivered a strong turnaround with a laser focus on productivity and return on capital materially growing profit and a positive outlook. Shares in CBA fell 11% in November after missing earnings forecasts by ~2%. The result was only a slight miss to consensus but resulted in a sharp selloff.
Key detractors from performance in November were our underweight positions across the major gold miners, New mont Corp and Evolution Mining. Momentum in the gold miners has been spectacular this year and continued in November. The gold price rallied to fresh all-time highs supported by ‘risk-off’ sentiment in markets. Both of these companies are exceptionally profitable at current spot gold prices with scope to deleverage rapidly the longer prices stay elevated.
We actively manage the fund’s foreign currency exposures associated with Australian equities. During the month the NZD rose 0.07% against the Australian dollar (AUD).
What happened in the markets that you invest in?
The Australian equity market fell -2.66% in November, dragged lower by the Technology and Real Estate sectors. In terms of economic data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics published its first edition of the new monthly CPI. There is some scepticism about the reliability of new data as seasonality and other adjustments likely coming into play. The data showed a further acceleration in the CPI to 3.8% YoY with the trimmed mean measure also rising to 3.2% YoY. Both ahead of expectations with price pressures broad based.
What are we thinking about the future?
After three rate cuts and modest rates of economic growth the Australian economy is running out of productive capacity. Household demand is accelerating, and the labour market remains tight. Price setting behaviour appears to have shifted in Australia with the business sector looking for any opportunity to raise prices as wage and other cost growth threaten their margins. From our perspective, there is a strong case for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to pivot their stance from a mild easing bias to a hiking bias in 2026.
This bodes poorly for the most interest rate sensitive sectors of the market, including real estate, consumer discretionary, housing and infrastructure companies with long dated cashflows (and higher valuation multiples). We have added to our holdings across miners, contractors, industrials and more recently banks given November weakness.
This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any financial product and does not take your personal circumstances into account. All opinions reflect our judgement on the date of communication and may change without notice. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance. We recommend you take financial advice before making investment decisions. We have prepared this web page in good faith based on information obtained from other sources, but we do not guarantee the accuracy of that information. We do not make any representation or warranty (express or implied) that this web page is accurate, complete, or current and to the maximum extent permitted by law disclaim any liability for loss which may be incurred by any person relying on this web page.