Lonsec

The annual Fund Manager of the Year Awards, held in partnership with Money Management, showcases the industry’s top performers, including leading fund managers, boutique funds, emerging managers and innovators. As the exclusive research partner for the awards, Lonsec brought its expertise to judging 25 group award categories, recognising the very best in the funds management industry. Congratulations to Firetrail Investments for winning this year’s coveted Fund Manager of the Year award.

Payal Vasa, Manager, Real Assets, Lonsec While infrastructure itself is evolving as an asset class, we also note a change in investor behaviour. In the past, investors largely focused on core infrastructure: assets like toll roads and regulated utilities that provided steady, predictable income. However, strong demand for these assets has pushed valuations higher and yields lower. As a result, many investors are no longer satisfied with these return levels.

Super funds delivered positive returns in May, with leading superannuation research house SuperRatings estimating the median balanced option returned 2.1% to members over the month. This result, which was largely driven by a tech-led rally in international shares, builds on the 2.6% gain observed in April and means that funds have now fully recovered from the -3.2% loss recorded in March after the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict rattled global markets.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4 June 2026 Melbourne, Australia – The Lonsec Investment Governance Solution (IGS) is a new capability designed to help compliance and governance teams, research functions and investment teams strengthen oversight, respond earlier to emerging risks and maintain clear, defensible audit trails. As investment governance expectations intensify, it has become essential to demonstrate transparent, defensible processes.

Hong Hon, Manager, Global Equities, Lonsec The current global equities environment is increasingly defined by an uncomfortable paradox – the performance of broad benchmarks that appear diversified on the surface are being driven by an ever-narrowing set of stocks, sectors and countries. This dynamic is evident across both the MSCI World and MSCI Emerging Markets (‘EM’) indices, and poses a growing challenge for active managers, particularly those with valuation discipline.

Payal Vasa, Manager, Real Assets, Lonsec Infrastructure has typically been used as a defensive part of portfolios, mainly for income and diversification. While that hasn’t changed, the role it plays is starting to broaden. It is now also being looked at as a source of growth, supported by a few clear long-term trends. At the forefront is the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure.

The announcement of an uneasy US-Iran ceasefire in early April helped drive some recovery within markets and benefited Super Fund returns in April. Leading superannuation research house SuperRatings estimates a gain of 2.6% for the median balanced option over the month of April, recovering much of the -3.2% loss recorded in March. “Global markets ended April retracing much of the March losses,” said Kirby Rappell, Director of SuperRatings.

Michael Elsworth, Manager, Fixed Income, Lonsec Managers within the Unconstrained Bonds and Specialised Income sectors have been shifting their portfolios in response to the uncertain economic backdrop. Many Government Bonds and Investment Grade Credit securities, the traditional ballasts of fixed income portfolios, are trading at historically tight credit spreads – which does not bode well for forward-looking returns.

Superannuation balances fell sharply over March as events in Iran evolved and the disruption to global oil supplies exacerbated emerging economic pressures. Leading research house SuperRatings estimates the median option will report negative returns across the balanced, growth and capital stable indices. The median Balanced option is estimated to have declined by -3.2% in March, wiping out the gains accumulated since September 2025.

Hong Hon, Manager, Global Equities, Lonsec Since my last article, AI Stocks: Bubble or Structural Shift? back in December 2025, markets have mostly stayed upbeat, but the rotation under the surface has only gotten louder. Global equities kicked off 2026 on the front foot. Emerging markets and commodities led the way, and most investors started the year expecting AI to keep driving the market – just with a bit more breadth beyond the US mega caps after last year’s outsized run.