Plan for Life is a premium research and analytics business under ISS Market Intelligence. They specialise in research and analysis of Australian and New Zealand retail and wholesale financial services, investment, and life insurance industries. Within their release of the September 2020 market overview, they announced critical growth rates of a variety of funds under the Responsible Investment Managed Funds market, as well as a variety of other vital information.

Overall, Plan for Life determined that the market’s annual growth outpaced the broader market, with it up 7.8% since the last year. The Responsible Investment Managed Funds market also showed continual and sustained growth over the past three years, exceeding the wider market by 3.8% per annum and only experiencing negative quarterly net flows twice since 2015. This is especially prevalent especially amidst a wider market fall of 1.6% over the past year.

Considered within the Responsible Investment Managed Funds market were Australian Investments, Super in Australia, New Zealand Responsible Funds, and Exchange Traded Funds (EFTs). These funds accounted for over $65 billion of FUM within 2020. ETFs posted the most robust annual growth rate of 54.35%, especially with their rapid growth in FUM and other products. While Australian Super lagged with a fall of 2.4%; however, it recorded a 5-year CAGR of 8.9%, promising potential returns despite its decreased growth.

Another noteworthy aspect would be the size of New Zealand’s Responsible Funds. The report concluded that New Zealand Responsible Funds comprised $10.2 billion or 15.7% of FUM, more than double the amount it was worth in 2015 ($3.7 billion), totalling over 14% of the NZ retail market and posting significant growth despite the falling investment market.

Finally, Plan for Life determined from historical data that overseas equity trusts returns tracked closely to the broader market. Overseas equity trust performance was further highlighted through its resilience in turbulent periods and its clear outperformance of the broader market since mid-2017.

1. Funds under management within the Responsible Investment Managed Funds market grew by 7.83% over the past year and posted a 5 year CAGR of 13.53%.
2. $65 billion of funds under management within the market in Australia and New Zealand is comprised of Responsible Investment Managed Funds.
3. Responsible Investment Managed Funds have grown consistently over the last decade, with growth exceeding the wider market by 3.8% per annum for three consecutive years.
4. Australian Investment Responsible funds, including both Retail and Wholesale Unit Trusts, rose 7.2% despite a wider Investment market fall over the past year.
5. Responsible International Equity Trusts have on average outperformed comparable trusts since mid-2017. Apart from that, they have shown greater resilience during turbulent periods.