Property The Star As Defensive Assets Perform Well

NZ Property The Star As Defensive Assets Perform Well

Defensive investments have returned solid investment returns despite the shaky global environment according to the latest data from New Zealand’s largest fund manager AMP Henderson Global Investors.

Property has done particularly well returning an impressive 10.6% for the year and 2.4% for the quarter, the highest property returns since 1997. By contrast the strengthening NZ dollar and global economic unease impacted on funds with international equity exposure.

“Its been a great year for New Zealand property,” said Paul Dyer, AMP Henderson Global Investors head of strategy.

“Industrial and prime commercial property have both had good years, but the real winner has been local retail property with Botany Town Centre and Lynnmall providing strong yields.”

The strength of retail property was also reflected in AMP Henderson Global Investors winning the NZ Property Council award for excellence in retail property last week.

After a year of strong growth in 2001, the NZ share market appeared to take a rest over the first quarter of 2002 with passive and active NZ funds delivering returns of 2.1% and 0.8% respectively. AMP Henderson’s recently launched Strategic Equity Growth Fund turned in a solid performance for the year delivering 27.7% for the March year.

“We continue to believe that there are good investment opportunities in the New Zealand market, particularly in the mid cap stocks which are trading at discounts compared to their offshore counterparts.”

Passive global shares returned –5.2 % for the quarter, while hedged passive global shares returned 0.9%.

“The profound difference between hedged and unhedged passive global figures, tell a clear currency story. The NZ dollar has strengthened 8% against the UK pound and 5.8% against the US dollar, effectively removing any upside from mildly buoyant offshore markets.“

Ends.

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