NZ Super Fund tops monthly asset record
NZ's pension fund has reached a monthly high in February, but stayed mum as to how its legal battle with a collapsed Portuguese bank is going.
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The NZ Superannuation Fund returned 3.91% in February but stayed mum on to how its legal battle with a collapsed Portuguese bank is going.
Returns of $1.14 billion in February have boosted the Super Fund to $28.98 billion, which is a record high for a month end. The fund was $27.78 billion at the end of January, after a return of 1.17% or $240 million.
The value of its New Zealand investments, which includes Z Energy, Metlifecare and Fletcher Building, is at $3.9 billion, or 15.3% of its total.
Just over 60% of its assets are in global equities, with 12% in fixed income. Timber, infrastructure and New Zealand equities make up 5% each of its portfolio.
Fund management made no comment about the report about $US150 million it lost through a toxic investment with Portugal’s central bank, which it revealed earlier this year.
The Bank of Portugal decided to place €853 million of loans in a so-called “bad bank” that was carved out of Banco Espirito Santo after its bail-out in August amid allegations of fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.
This nullified the super fund’s credit insurance on the loan. The fund has written down its investment to zero.
New Zealand’s government-backed pension fund has said it will sue the central bank, along with other investors. The Super Fund’s loans were arranged last July by investment bank Goldman Sachs through an investment vehicle it created called Oak Finance Luxembourg.
Super Fund chief executive Adrian Orr said in January that Bank of Portugal's decision was wrong, and he believed the fund has a good legal case to overturn the ruling. It filed debt recovery proceedings in the English courts against Novo Banco on February 27.
The Super Fund has a long-term performance expectation to beat the 90-day Treasury Bill return by at least 2.5% on a 20-year average.
Since the fund began in 2003, it has returned 10.30% per year, beating the Treasury Bill’s 4.64%. In the past 12 months the fund has returned 18.23%.
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Tue, 17 Mar 2015
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NZ Super Fund tops monthly asset record
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