Welcome to your September update
Dear investor, welcome to the SBS Wealth Investment Funds Investor Update for September 2025. Below you will find the latest performance data and market commentary from your SBS Wealth Investment Management Team.
To see your performance, log in to our new app experience.
Performance data
Performance as at 31 August 2025.
| Strategy | 1M | 3M | 1Y |
| High Growth Strategy | 2.16% | 6.91% | 12.02% |
| Growth Strategy | 1.87% | 5.82% | 10.34% |
| Balanced Strategy | 1.57% | 4.73% | 8.62% |
| Conservative Strategy | 1.10% | 3.09% | 5.95% |
| Portfolio | 1M | 1Y | 5Y pa |
| World Equity Portfolio | 2.70% | 14.18% | 11.85% |
| Australasian Equity Portfolio | 0.46% | 5.56% | 4.59% |
| World Bond Portfolio | 0.34% | 2.40% | -0.05% |
| New Zealand Bond Portfolio | 1.24% | 5.14% | 0.95% |
Performance is shown after fees and before tax. For more information about how performance is calculated and more performance periods, click here.
Market update
Equity markets continue to climb, reaching new highs. For example, the US market represented by the S&P 500 Index posted five new closing highs during August. Catalysts for this are strong corporate earnings, moderating inflation, and the promise of lower interest rates. Similarly in fixed interest, investment-grade credit (SBS Wealth only invests in investment-grade or higher fixed income) posted solid gains, propelled by the number of companies whose earnings beat analyst estimates.
US markets were buoyed by the anticipation of the Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell cutting interest rates in mid-September. This is on the back of a weakening labour market. The main benefactor of this was small sized companies, reversing some losses earlier in 2025, while the mega cap stocks had a much quieter month.
The Healthcare sector turned around a tough first six months of 2025 to post returns over 5% for August. Returns were boosted by investors responding to attractive valuations and some favourable company-specific news.
The World Equity Fund returned 2.70% for August and 14.18% for the last twelve months. The Fund saw a big rebound in several of its Healthcare stocks, with United Health Group +24.2%, Novo Nordisk up +21.4%, AstraZeneca +10.1%, and Johnson & Johnson +8.4%. Other companies to perform well in August were Japanese stocks Sony +13.2%, and Toyota +8.8%, Apple +12%, Alphabet +11%, and The Home Depot +10.7%.
The allocation to Emerging Markets also added value during August.
The Australasian Equity Fund returned 0.56% for August and 5.56% for the last twelve months. The main driver for the positive return was Australian small cap companies. Others to do well were Westpac Bank +16.1%, Chorus +12.7%, Fortescue +10.5%, Freightways +9.1%, and Wesfarmers +8.9%. The Healthcare sector struggled with EBOS Group –20.3%, CSL -20.1%, Xero –8.1% and Woolworths –7%.
The World Bond Fund returned 0.34% for August. The US is still flipping and flopping with the Fed lowering interest rates to help the economy, versus keeping interest rates up to fight off rising inflation. By the end of the month we got the return of the income stream and not much more.
The New Zealand Bond Fund had a very good month returning 1.24% for August and 5.14% for the last twelve months. Unlike the US, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has been more aggressive in cutting interest rates and signalling further cuts to come. This was positively received by the market with a lot of capital appreciation attributed to fixed interest during the month.
