Another positive month for Super Fund

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund reported another positive performance in November in what it described as a "year of two halves".

The fund's chief executive, Adrian Orr, told MPs that the latter half of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 had been a "difficult year" which ended with a 22 per cent loss for the 2008/2009 financial year. Since then, holding on to growth assets and not panicking had resulted in a turnaround.

In November the fund had an unaudited return of 2.6 per cent, or $405 million, and in the year to November had made gains of 14.7 per cent, or $2 billion.

The fund now had assets of $15.161 billion, which is around the same return that would have been gained by investing in Treasury bonds when contributions began in 2003. Orr said the fund was well placed to return to the strong gains it made in the early years and increase the value of the fund in the long term.

- NZPA