At Simplicity, we’re more focused on long-term results than short-term performance nevertheless we’re pleased to share our latest results.

For the one-year period to Feb.28 2019, both our Conservative and Balanced funds were second place against their KiwiSaver peer groups. After fees but before tax the Conservative fund returned 5.31% and the Balanced Fund 5.30% 

And our flagship Growth fund took sixth place, out of 27 with a return of 5.08% 

The returns are exclusive of membership fees.

The returns for the various funds were unusually close for this reporting period.

Growth fund returns compressed sharply as investor sentiment declined and global stock markets recorded their worst 1-year performance since the Global Financial Crisis back in 2007/2008. 

Bond yields fell steadily over the latter part of 2018 and this saw our Conservative fund perform strongly by comparison. A stronger bond performance helped bolster returns in our other portfolios and compensated for the equities slump. 

The story is a similar one for passive index funds worldwide which are exposing active fund managers for underperformance during these unstable market periods. Read more here from Bloomberg.

Source: The tables above use Morningstar’s data to 28.02.2019 and compare the Conservative, Balanced and Growth sector funds on an after fee but before tax basis. No adjustment has been made for the membership fee.

 It is important to note the survey excludes some industry participants who either choose not to participate in regular surveys; who do not provide their data to Morningstar or; who do not have at least one year’s performance history.