Summer New Zealand Equities
Summer New Zealand Equities fund performance summary as at 31 December 2021.
Fund at a glance
Unit price (as at 31 December 2021): $1.7997
Date the fund started: 19 September 2016
For information on fees, see our Fees page.
For more information on the Summer New Zealand Equities fund, read the latest quarterly fund update and the product disclosure statement.
Fund objective and strategy
See the New Zealand Equities page for the Summary of investment objective and strategy.
Fund returns
| PIR | Total since inception (annualised) | 1 Month | 3 Month | 1 Year | 3 Years^ |
| 28% | 11.85% | 3.74% | 0.30% | 4.11% | 13.86% |
| 17.50% | 12.20% | 3.76% | 0.33% | 4.36% | 14.17% |
| 10.50% | 12.44% | 3.77% | 0.34% | 4.53% | 14.38% |
^ 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 | Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited | 12.16% |
| 2 | Contact Energy Limited | 6.03% |
| 3 | Spark New Zealand Limited | 5.73% |
| 4 | Fletcher Building Limited | 5.72% |
| 5 | Ebos Group Limited | 5.12% |
| 6 | Mainfreight Limited | 4.66% |
| 7 | SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited | 4.26% |
| 8 | Infratil Limited | 4.24% |
| 9 | Meridian Energy Limited | 3.78% |
| 10 | Auckland International Airport Limited | 3.45% |
The top 10 investments make up 55.15% of the fund.
Manager's Commentary
The New Zealand Equity market delivered a weak performance over the December quarter, and was again weaker than global equity markets. The New Zealand economy remains in good health, with the largest city, Auckland, now coming out of Covid related lockdown to add to the momentum. With strong growth, no immigration until at least mid-2022, and supply disruptions globally, inflation has risen to levels not seen in over a decade. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has responded with two 0.25% increases to the official interest rate already, and forecasts more to come.
The New Zealand equity market has many strong companies delivering stable earnings and dividend growth, yet its current performance is weak relative to many other markets. After five years of New Zealand equity returns out-stripping earnings growth, the valuation of the market as a whole was trading at levels above its historic normal levels. The market needs a period of earnings “catch up”, and to adjust to higher interest rates. As always, we continue to look for (and find) undervalued and misunderstood companies to drive relative outperformance.
Portfolio Performance
The Summer New Zealand Equities delivered a return of 0.30% (28% PIR) over the December quarter. Over the year to December 31, the fund returned 4.11% (28% PIR).
Strong earnings and dividend announcements for our overweight’s in Michael Hill, Sky TV and Tower drove relative performance over the quarter. An underweight exposure to Ryman Healthcare also assisted, as it was impacted by a relatively weak result and exposure to housing sentiment waning as mortgage rates rise. Eating into those relative gains were overweight exposures in My Food Bag, as the market is uncertain as to the level of post Covid earnings, and an underweight in Goodman Property Trust as the industrial property remains buoyant.
Outlook
Rising interest rates are a two edged sword for investors. On the one hand, they generally occur when the economy is strong and increase the returns on cash and fixed interest investments (in time), whilst on the other hand, they raise costs for corporates, and make growth assets relatively less attractive. If inflation were to rise to very high levels, interest rates would have to respond and would create a headwind for equity markets globally. That is not our base case.
Even with increasing vaccination rates, we now have the Omicron variant impacting global tourism, whose recovery continues to lag our prior expectations. Companies exposed to that theme, for example Auckland Airport, Air NZ and Sky City Entertainment, remain in an earnings downgrade cycle.
The relatively strong performance of the listed property sector over the quarter surprised us. If anything, we see the near to medium term outlook for the sector as weaker than three months ago, and hence continue with our underweight exposure.
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.
