Summer Balanced Selection
Summer Balanced Selection fund performance summary as at 31 January 2025.
Fund at a glance
Unit price (as at 31 January 2025): $1.6188
Date the fund started: 19 September 2016
For information on fees, see our Fees page.
For more information on the Summer Balanced Selection fund, read the latest quarterly fund update and the product disclosure statement.
For the current tactical asset allocation and date of most recent review, please go to the Summer Balanced Selection page.
Fund objective and strategy
See the Summer Balanced Selection 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% | 5.43% | 1.37% | 2.83% | 8.96% | 4.02% |
| 17.50% | 5.72% | 1.39% | 2.85% | 9.30% | 4.30% |
| 10.50% | 5.92% | 1.41% | 2.86% | 9.54% | 4.49% |
^ 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
The top 10 investments make up 39.08% of the fund.
Manager's Commentary
How did your portfolio perform?
The Summer Balanced Selection (the fund) delivered a return net of fees and before tax of 1.44% for the month of January. For the 12 months to the end of January the fund delivered a return net of fees and before tax of 9.89%.
Of the funds utilised within the Balanced Fund the Global Equities Fund and the Enhanced Cash Fund outperformed their respective benchmarks while the other funds met or underperformed their benchmarks. For more information on portfolio components refer to the relevant single asset class fund commentary.
We actively manage the fund’s foreign currency exposures associated with global equities and listed property and hedge foreign currency exposures associated with global bonds. As of 31 January 2025, these exposures represented around 36% of the value of the fund. After allowing for foreign currency hedges in place, approximately 15% of the value of the fund was unhedged and exposed to foreign currency risk. The NZ dollar, relevant for our portfolios with unhedged foreign currency exposures, rose 0.9% against the US dollar, and 0.2% against the Australian dollar.
What happened in the markets that you invest in?
The Geopolitical backdrop continues to provide elevated levels of uncertainty with Canada joining France and South Korea in seeing political upheaval, so it was welcome to see a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestine conflict, no matter how short-lived it may prove. The Chinese economy saw a strong end to the year, perhaps boosted by increased production to beat the introduction of US trade tariffs. Australian economic data was more positive that we expected, whilst NZ data was modestly worse.
Equity market returns were robust, spurred on by the anticipation of stronger growth from US policy changes and better economic news from Australia and China. The flipside was that global interest rates remain elevated, mostly due to uncertainty around tariff-induced trade wars and ongoing government deficits, especially in the US.
What are we thinking about the future?
The Octagon Investment Committee met in late January and made no changes to our current tactical asset allocation. We are slightly overweight equity markets, specifically New Zealand and Listed Property, where we see attractive valuations. We are underweight Cash as we see further interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) lowering returns.
Political uncertainty is high in our view; the US passing and quick suspension of very material tariffs in the space of 48 hours is just one example. Markets are often effective in tempering the most radical policy shifts – either through high interest rates which hurt government accounts and growth, or dramatic equity market falls – both of which are unpopular with voters. As such, we do not expect the most extreme outcomes, but we do expect above average volatility in many global markets.
As fundamental investors we continue to focus on the medium-term outlook and sustainable drivers of return. Volatility can often create attractive entry points for new investments when short-term over reactions ignore longer term prospects.
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.
