Brook Asset Management Welcomes KiwiSaver Growth

Brook Asset Management Welcomes KiwiSaver Growth

14 April 2009: Brook Asset Management has welcomed news that the one millionth New Zealander has begun saving for their retirement through KiwiSaver, reaffirming Brook’s view that KiwiSaver is an attractive means of saving for retirement.

On the back of this news Brook Asset Management also announced today its investment return figures for the Brook Professional KiwiSaver Scheme, for the year ending March 2009, which show it is continuing to perform despite a challenging market environment.

The Brook Professional KiwiSaver Scheme provides two options to New Zealand investors saving for their retirement; the Brook Growth Fund, for those with a long term investment horizon, and the Brook Balanced Fund which is designed for those closer to retirement.

Despite ongoing turbulence in investment markets, the Brook Balanced Fund returned -1.8% gross of tax over the 12 months to the end of March 2009, avoiding much of the negative effects of the financial crisis, compared to the Fund’s benchmark which returned -21% during the same period. The Brook Growth Fund returned -6.5% gross of tax, exceeding market returns by a wide margin and the Fund’s benchmark which returned -36% during the same period.

In its rankings for the year ending December 2008, Aon New Zealand listed the two Brook KiwiSaver funds as coming second in their respective categories based on performance. Also, The Brook Professional KiwiSaver Scheme was a finalist for Morningstar’s KiwiSaver Fund Manager of the Year for 2008.

Brook Managing Director, Mark Brighouse, said Brook’s KiwiSaver Scheme continues to perform well in extremely challenging market conditions, with both funds exceeding their benchmarks as a result of strong stock selection and carefully considered asset allocation.

“While this has, undeniably, been one of the most challenging periods for investors in history, we are currently in an environment that presents ideal opportunities for Brook’s active investment approach. We have been able to find undervalued companies that are available at attractive prices.

“While investors may be seeing negative return numbers for their fund at this time, they should remember that this is in the context of considerable negative returns from investment markets.

As KiwiSaver is becoming an increasingly popular choice for New Zealanders, Mr Brighouse reaffirmed the importance of investors gaining a strong understanding of the underlying investment process of the scheme they choose.

“To ensure investors make the most of a KiwiSaver, it is extremely important for them to understand the investment process their fund manager is following, understand what makes up the underlying portfolio they are investing in and have confidence in their fund manager’s abilities to safeguard and grow their investment.

“As KiwiSaver account balances grow further and equity markets recover, I expect that members and potential members will take a keen interest in the performance and strategies followed by various KiwiSaver managers.

“They need to ensure they are choosing the best possible partner to help them reach retirement.”

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