Local sharemarket lifts over January

The Australian sharemarket managed to post strong results over the month of January with the median share fund manager returning 5.2 per cent, the Morningstar Australian Institutional Sector Survey found.

Among growth assets, Australian shares were up 5 per cent while international shares returned 4.6 per cent. Australian real estate investment trusts and global property also posted solidly with 4.4 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively.

"The Australian shares index's result was among the four best monthly returns recorded in recent years and was the highest monthly return the S&P/ASX 300 Index has reached since 31 January 2012," Morningstar stated.

The index has also gained 72.8 per cent over the period following the global financial crisis — March 2009 to 31 January 2013, according to the report.

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In addition to this, the median Australian share fund manager managed to beat the index by 0.2 per cent while returning annualised returns of 20.2 per cent over one year, 6.7 per cent over three years and 2.5 per cent over five years.

According to Morningstar's results, the best-performing Australian share strategies over the 12 months to 31 January were Hyperion 300 (36.2 per cent), Dalton Nicol Reid (35.4 per cent) and Hyperion (33.9 per cent).

International sharemarkets also fared well in Morningstar's review, with the MSCI World ex-Australia NR AUD Index posting a 4.6 per cent return for January and 18 per cent over the year.

Over the January month the median international manager returned 4.7 per cent, and 18.3 per cent over the year. Over the past 12 months, Magellan (30.3 per cent), Wellington Global Growth (25.2 per cent ) and Templeton (24.9 per cent) returned strongest.

According to the survey, the Australian property securities sector gained 4.4 per cent over the month and 31.7 per cent over the year to 31 January. The best performers over the year were Legg Mason (41.3 per cent), UBS (38.5 per cent) and Zurich (35.9 per cent).

As the worst-performing sector, the UBS Composite Bond Index returned -0.2 per cent for month and 7.3 per cent over the year to 31 January.

Of the top-performing Australian fixed income strategies, the sector was led by Macquarie Core Plus (11.3 per cent), AMP Capital (11 per cent) and Goldman Sachs (10.8 per cent).