31 March 2024
Australian Ethical is one of Australia's leading ethical fund managers. By investing responsibly in well-managed ethical companies, we deliver competitive financial performance to our clients and positive change to society and the environment. Since our inception in 1986, our Ethical Charter has guided all investment decisions and underpinned our business practices. Every year 10 per cent of our profits* are distributed to charitable organisations and social impact initiatives through The Australian Ethical Foundation.
To provide long-term growth accompanied by high levels of risk through investment in overseas companies. The Fund aims to track MSCI World Index ex Australia (AUD) Net, before taking into account fees and expenses over a 3 year period.
The opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of companies listed on international stock exchanges, which meet the Australian Ethical Charter.
| 1m | 3m | 6m | 1y | 3y | 5y | 10y | Since inception | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | 2.1% | 11.2% | 18.4% | 26.5% | 12.2% | 12.6% | - | 11.0% |
| Composite Benchmark** | 3.0% | 14.0% | 20.1% | 28.7% | 14.4% | 14.1% | - | 12.1% |
| CY 2023 | CY 2022 | CY 2021 | CY 2020 | CY 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | 25.7% | -16.1% | 29.9% | 3.9% | 28.6% |
| Composite Benchmark** | 23.2% | -12.5% | 29.6% | 5.7% | 28.0% |
Portfolio diversification: Diversify your portfolio by investing in companies and sectors not well covered by other fund managers and brokers.
Help build a better world: Invest in the new, low‐carbon economy, fund medical and technology breakthroughs, efficient transport and more.
Promote human rights: We strive to avoid any investment in companies involved in the poor treatment of asylum seekers or the exploitation of workers through poor working conditions.
The International Shares Fund returned 11.2% in the quarter ending 31 March 2024, underperforming the benchmark by 2.9% (wholesale). At a country level, the underperformance was driven by our underweight exposure to the US (Amazon continued to perform well but is not held due to the ethical selection process) and stock selection in Japan. At a sector level, stock selection in the Industrials and Healthcare sectors were the biggest drags on performance. Meanwhile, the underweight exposure to Consumer Staples and Materials assisted performance over the quarter. In past periods, the Technology sector has been a material contributor to performance but in this quarter, it was a mild detractor as strength in NVIDIA (which increased 91% over the quarter) was offset by weakness in Apple (-6.8%) which is facing pressure from regulators and courts alleging abuse of market power. Momentum and size factors have generated the most alpha in early 2024 – a tell-tale sign of crowding due to passive inflows. The consensus view appeared to be positioning for rate cuts without a hard landing. Post quarter end, this view has unwound with stronger US economic data and persistent inflation forcing markets to price in delays to rate cuts once again.