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.
Winning in a “K-Shaped” Recovery
The S&P 500 Index reached a historic high on February 19th of this year, only to break that record less than six months later. On its face this sounds reasonable, however when considering the unprecedented nature of the events that transpired in-between, this is downright shocking. Over this six-month period the S&P 500 realised its swiftest decline in history, contracting over 30% in less than 22 trading days, putting an end to the 11-year bull market, as 9.5 years of job gains were wiped away in less than a month. The US government passed a $2 trillion relief package, the largest stimulus in history as the Fed slashed interest rates near zero. In the meantime, the US economy shrank by an annualised 32.9% quarter-over-quarter on an annualised basis, the largest ever recorded contraction.
To read the full media release by QS Investors click here.
