The New Zealand stock exchange has started 2013 on a very strong note with the benchmark NZX50 Gross Index up 4.6% in January.
The NZX was the world’s fifth best performing market, out of 44, in the twelve months ended January 31, 2013 with a return of 34.2% according to MSCI.
The following table ranks the top ten markets for the January 2013 year in gross terms (capital and dividends) and in US dollars.
MSCI – Top performing markets (January 31, 2013 year)
|
1 |
Philippines |
+44.1% |
|
2 |
Turkey |
+41.4% |
|
3 |
Denmark |
+40.6% |
|
4 |
Belgium |
+39.6% |
|
5 |
New Zealand |
+34.2% |
|
6 |
Thailand |
+31.9% |
|
7 |
Switzerland |
+28.7% |
|
8 |
Netherlands |
+26.6% |
|
9 |
Mexico |
+26.8% |
|
10 |
Colombia |
+26.7% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MSCI Developed Markets |
+16.6% |
|
|
MSCI Emerging Markets |
+1.4% |
Australia had a gross return (in US dollars) of 18.6% in the twelve months ended January 31, 2013.
The NZX was the top performing developed market – out of 24 – in the three years ended January 2013 when it had an annualised return of 21.0 per cent compared to a developed world average of 10.9 per cent. Three emerging markets – Philippines, Thailand and Columbia – had higher returns than the NZX over this three year period.
It is important to note that these figures are in US dollars and NZ dollar returns have been lower because the Kiwi has appreciated against the Greenback in recent years. However these figures clearly indicate that the NZX has been one of the world’s best performing sharemarkets in recent years.
With the world, and New Zealand, slowly emerging from the Global Financial Crisis we are reasonably optimistic that the NZX can continue to deliver higher returns than most other domestic asset classes.
Brian Gaynor
Portfolio Manager