New Zealand’s NZ Super Fund earned an average annual investment return of 10.03% in the 20 years to June 2024, when it was valued at a record NZ$76.65 billion (US$45.77 billion).
According to the sovereign wealth fund’s annual report, it earned NZ$49.86 billion more than the return on Treasury bills over the two decades and NZ$17.28 billion more than its passive reference portfolio benchmark, thanks largely to global equity investments, which account for over half of its total net exposure.
“This year’s annual report marks the first time we can report on the fund’s rolling 20-year performance data, a time period on which we’ve always based our long-term expectations and which we regard as a relevant period to judge the fund’s performance, given our inter-generational mandate,” NZ Super says in the report for its financial year ended June 30, published on October 24.
According to John Williamson, chair of the Guardians of NZ Superannuation, which manages NZ Super, the fund is “strongly committed” to a sustainable finance approach and is making “good progress” on implementing its climate change investment strategy.
“We’ve long believed that environmental, social and governance factors are an essential consideration in evaluating any proposed investment and that climate change in particular creates significant risks, and opportunities, for long-term investors like the fund,” he says in the report.