ANZ KiwiSaver Scheme Balanced Growth Fund

Performance is after the annual fund charge and before tax. Rates, fees and agreements.

• It was a good quarter across the board for investment markets, with most global share markets finishing higher, while bonds also had a strong period.  
• Share markets benefited from interest rate cuts and a growing consensus that the US economy was headed for a soft landing; that is where inflation moderates to target levels without a significant decline in growth and the labour market. 
• In the US, the S&P 500 rose 5.9%, while the NASDAQ 100 was up 2.8%. Meanwhile, European shares were also higher, but gains were more muted. And in New Zealand, the NZX 50 rose 6%. The interest rate-sensitive market tends to perform well when bond yields decline.
• In fixed interest, global government bond markets delivered strong gains over the quarter, with most developed central banks cutting interest rates as inflation trended toward target rates. US bonds were some of the better performing after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a surprising 50 basis points. 
• In New Zealand, bond markets also had a strong quarter, helped in part by the 25-basis-point cut in the Official Cash Rate by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The cut came as economic data showed the local economy continues to struggle. Weak economic data included a 1.2% decline in Q2 retail sales, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest level in more than three years. Elsewhere, the economy contracted by 0.2% in the three months to June 2024, raising the probability that the economy is in a recession.
• Our underweight position to cash benefited fund performance over the quarter. Cash is a defensive asset and tends to outperform in times of market volatility and equity sell-offs, so with shares and bonds turning in good returns, cash underperformed. Other positives were the fund’s listed infrastructure and domestic property holdings, which performed well over the quarter. However, this was partially offset by negative stock selection from our international equity managers – notably, underweight positions to several strong-performing tech companies.

The fund aims to achieve (after the fund charge and before tax) over the long term moderate to high returns, allowing for moderate to large ups and downs in value.

The graph below shows the value of a $1,000 investment made at the time the fund launched.

Performance is after the annual fund charge and before tax. Rates, fees and agreements.

The fund invests mainly in growth assets (equities, listed property and listed infrastructure), with some exposure to income assets (cash and cash equivalents and fixed interest). The fund may also invest in alternative assets.

This chart shows the mix of assets that the fund generally intends to invest in.