New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Auckland, had record assets of NZ$20.08 billion (US$16.41 billion) as of Sept. 30, confirmed Catherine Etheredge, a spokeswoman for the sovereign wealth fund.
The latest asset total was up 5.7% from June 30, the end of its latest fiscal year.
In a telephone interview, Ms. Etheredge said the rise in equity prices around the world during the past quarter helped power the sovereign wealth fund's gains.
The sovereign wealth fund's annual report for the latest fiscal year, released Wednesday, noted its allocations as of June 30 — before taking into account “strategic tilts” away from its targets — were 60% global equities; 9% infrastructure; 7% each for fixed income and timber; 6% property; 5% New Zealand equities; 3% “other” private markets; 2% private equity; and 1% rural farmland.
In the annual report, David May, retiring board chairman, noted that over the past four years, the sovereign wealth fund's investment team has made “occasional tilts towards or away from asset classes and currencies when we think the market” has strayed substantially from fair value. The annual report didn't provide details beyond saying “our strategic tilting strategy over the past year has seen us take a significantly overweight position in global equities and a significantly underweight (negative) position in bonds.”
Gavin Walker has since become board chairman.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the MSCI All-Country World index gained just less than 6.5%.
The annual report noted that the wealth fund — established in 2002 to prefund future superannuation outlays, with current plans anticipating its assets to be drawn upon only from the 2029-2030 fiscal year — is well positioned to invest with a long-term view.
