Christmas has come early for the bank’s shareholders with the decision to slightly increase the 2024 dividend – despite a single-digit decline in the net profit and cash earnings.
Beating the market benchmark is never easy, with 72 per cent of Australian actively managed global equity general funds trailing the S&P World Index in the six months to June 30, 2024. Domestic equity funds performed slightly better, albeit against a significantly lower bar set by the S&P/ASX 200 Index.
AustralianSuper adds GOLD ETF to menu
$200 billion industry super fund, AustralianSuper, which is Australia’s largest both by members and assets, this week confirmed that the ETF Securities Gold ETF (ASX: GOLD) had been added to its member direct investment menu.
The member direct investment menu offers members the ability to build their own portfolio, under the AustralianSuper banner, from a selection of carefully curated direct ASX-listed shares, term deposits, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and now, a gold exchange-traded product (ETP).
The move highlights the growing comfort that investors have holding less traditional assets along with the increasingly popularity of portfolio ‘hedges,’ amid one of the most difficult to navigate markets in recent history.
Commenting on the announcement, Kanish Chugh, head of distribution at ETF Securities, said: “We are very pleased to see GOLD now accessible to the AustralianSuper members via their own direct investment platform. Whilst SMSFs have been strong investors in ETFs and other listed options, super funds are now increasingly offering this option to their members, too. They are recognising the growing desire of investors to take control of their super and ETFs can be used to diversify and tailor portfolios.
“Current fund inflows to GOLD have been in keeping with the global interest in this asset class and strong pricing. While gold prices have eased off (to some extent, off the back of the vaccines’ prospects), gold has a valuable role in a portfolio, with allocations assisting not only with risk levels but performance in a portfolio.
The GOLD ETF is unhedged, trading in AUD, meaning the value falls when the A$ is stronger against the US$, something that has been a headwind for GOLD in recent weeks. That said, this unique relationship gives members the ability to hedge both currency and volatility.
