Summer New Zealand Fixed Interest
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 risk indicator is based on the returns data for the five years to 31 March 2026.
* 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.
Summary of investment objective and strategy
To achieve long-term returns (before fees, taxes and other expenses) greater than the Bloomberg NZBond Composite 0+ Yr Index.
These investments typically have low to moderate levels of movement up and down in value.
Strategic investment mix
| Category | % |
|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents | 5.00% |
| New Zealand fixed interest | 95.00% |
| International fixed interest | 0.00% |
| Total income assets | 100% |
| Australasian equities | 0.00% |
| Listed property | 0.00% |
| International equities | 0.00% |
| Total growth assets | 0% |
| Total portfolio | 100% |
Minimum suggested investment timeframe
Fund at a glance
Unit price (as at 31 March 2026): $1.2565
Date the fund started: 19 September 2016
Fund returns
| PIR | 1 Month | 3 Month | 1 Year | 3 Years^ | Total since inception^ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28% | -1.21% | -0.37% | 2.58% | 3.54% | 1.76% |
^ 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 | New Zealand Government 1.5% 15/05/2031 | 9.24% |
| 2 | New Zealand Government 14/04/2033 3.5% | 7.13% |
| 3 | New Zealand Government 15/05/2032 2.00% | 5.14% |
| 4 | NZ Government 4.25% 15/05/2034 Green Bond | 4.94% |
| 5 | New Zealand Government 4.5% 15/05/2035 | 4.92% |
| 6 | New Zealand Government 4.25% 15/05/2036 | 4.56% |
| 7 | New Zealand Government 4.50% 15/05/2030 | 4.19% |
| 8 | New Zealand Government 3% 20/04/2029 | 4.11% |
| 9 | ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited 17/09/2031 2.99% | 3.63% |
| 10 | New Zealand Government 15/05/2028 0.25% | 3.54% |
| Top 10 investments total | 51.4% | |
Portfolio Holdings
SummerNZFI portfolio holdings data Sept2025
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Manager's Commentary
How did your portfolio perform?
The New Zealand Fixed Interest Fund (the fund) delivered a return after fees and before tax of –1.68% for the month of March. For the 12 months to the end of March, the fund delivered a return after fees and before tax of 3.59%.
What happened in the markets that you invest in?
March was a very difficult month for fixed interest investors, in general.
Market participants, concerned about the inflationary effects of the conflict in the Middle East, shunted international term interest rates and global bond yields materially higher, delivering significant losses to fixed interest investors, in general
The New Zealand Fixed Interest Fund was caught up in the global backwash; the fund’s February gross return of 1.59% was completely overwhelmed by this month's gross loss of -1.67%
While we have acknowledged in earlier commentaries that we expect the fund’s returns to be volatile (and ultimately, positive) over the shorter-term, even we have been surprised by the ferocity of the abrupt move higher in term interest rates and bond yields
What are we thinking about the future?
Consensus around some sort of resolution to the Middle East is fluid and fast-moving; positive and negative sentiment dominoing into financial asset prices as a direct reaction to the continual flow of media announcements
With fuel and fuel-related expenditure likely to push domestic inflation close to 4.0% later this year, in our view, we fully understand why fixed interest investors are pushing bond yields higher to gain additional return premiums to offset the anticipated effects of higher inflation
However, at some stage we believe the narrative will turn from inflation to growth.
Indeed, with New Zealand labour productivity generally subdued, we doubt that local wage and salary earners will receive remuneration increases to offset the impact of fuel inflation. Moreover, with the annual movement in residual property prices basically flat, we believe we’ll see increasing rhetoric around the negative wealth effect associated with household asset price performance. Ultimately, we see declining real incomes and weakening consumer balances sheets curtailing discretionary retail consumption.
As for timing, we’ll be watching business and consumer sentiment surveys, along with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's GDP Nowcast, which gives a real-time estimate of domestic economic performance
The fund’s gross yield to maturity, calculated as the weighted-average gross yield of all securities in the portfolio, was 4.37%. The fund’s weighted-average credit quality was AA-. Where a security does not have an external credit rating, we assign an internal credit rating based on our assessment. We use the lowest available credit rating for New Zealand Government bonds, Fitch’s AA+.
The fund’s duration was 4.90 years, exceeding the benchmark duration of 4.52 years. Our current target duration positioning range is +/- 0.5 years around the benchmark, which we will use if we assess interest rate moves as directionally and temporarily overstretched.