Australia's Future Fund Tuesday reported the market value of its portfolio stood at A$97.6 billion (US$90.2 billion) as of March 31, up 1.1% from the previous quarter and up 9.8% in the past 12 months.
In a news release, David Neal, the Future Fund's chief investment officer, said the portfolio is balanced to reflect the fact that markets remain “relatively buoyant” but, by and large, fully valued.
The portfolio's current positioning will provide for “strong returns should the market environment remain healthy,” but at the same time offers “some protection against the potential for weaker markets,” he said.
The fund's allocation to cash saw the biggest quarter-on-quarter change with a 1.8 percentage point gain to 10.8% of the portfolio.
But the bulk of that shift seemed to come from the fund's allocations to alternatives, down one point to 13.6%, and debt, down 0.4 to 11.8%, rather than from public and private equity, which declined 0.3 to 50.6%.
Within the fund's equity allocation, developed markets saw a 0.8-point drop to 23.7%, partially offset by a 0.3-point rise in private equity to 8.0% and a gain of 0.1 point apiece to Australian equities and emerging markets equities to 10.2% and 8.7%, respectively.
Elsewhere, the fund's allocation to real estate stood unchanged at 5.3%, while its allocation to infrastructure and timber slipped 0.1 point to 7.9%.
The latest results leave the Future Fund with an annualized return of 11.2% for the five years through March 31, and 9.3% for the past three years.
Since the fund's May 2006 inception, its annualized return comes to 6.8%, behind its “baseline long-term target” return of 7.2%.
