Global Equity Fund

Super Amazing Fund Management  |  Month ended 31 August 2026

Benchmark: MSCI World Index (NZD, unhedged)

Fund returns

Attribution

Total attribution effect for the period: -1.43%

Positioning

Attribution by country

Positioning by country

Attribution by holding

Positioning by holding

Macro drivers

• Interest rates: US Fed funds rate held at 4.25%-4.50%

  The Federal Reserve held rates steady for a third consecutive meeting, with commentary continuing to lean on incoming inflation data before signalling any cutting cycle. This kept discount rate assumptions for growth-oriented sectors broadly stable over the month.

• FX: NZD/USD ended the month at 0.585, down 1.2%

  A softer New Zealand dollar over the month added a modest tailwind to unhedged offshore returns for New Zealand-based investors, contributing roughly 1.2 percentage points of the fund's total return in NZD terms.

• Bond yields: US 10-year Treasury yield eased 8bps to 4.21%

  A modest pullback in long-dated yields provided some relief for higher duration growth names, part of the same rally in the technology sector that the fund's underweight position there missed most of.

• Geopolitical events: Ongoing trade policy discussions between major economies

  Continued uncertainty around trade policy kept volatility elevated in cyclical sectors, particularly industrials and energy, though broad market impact was contained over the period.

Market reactions

How the market responded to disclosures by the companies and funds held.

Commentary

Market commentaryAI-drafted

Global equities extended their advance in August 2026, but the month was volatile and concentrated in the mega-cap technology and artificial intelligence names that dominate the MSCI World Index. Early strength came from strong earnings from AI infrastructure bellwethers, with US stocks led higher by the technology sector after results from Coreweave Inc. and Super Micro Computer Inc. affirmed confidence in the AI trade, with Coreweave shares rising as much as 24% and Super Micro nearly 18%. That momentum reversed sharply mid-month when a selloff in chipmakers sent stocks lower as growing anxiety about inflation and rising government debt kept bond yields elevated, driving a closely watched gauge of semiconductor firms down by 5% and the Nasdaq 100 down 1.7%. Conditions deteriorated further into month end as a flare-up in geopolitical risks sent stocks and bonds lower as oil climbed toward $86 a barrel amid escalating Middle East tensions, lifting Treasury 10-year yields to the highest since January 2025 and causing the S&P 500 to trim its August advance. Given the benchmark's heavy weighting to the mega-cap AI and semiconductor names that whipsawed through this period, the fund's more modest 1.14% gain against the benchmark's 2.58% is consistent with lighter exposure to the concentrated technology rally that drove headline index returns during the month, even as the fund's longer-run figures, including the 14.20% one-year return against 12.70% for the benchmark, point to a more resilient pattern of relative performance outside this particular month.

Attribution commentaryAI-drafted

Information Technology was the largest drag on relative performance during the month, and the evidence points squarely to the AI-driven rally the fund evidently did not fully capture. Early in August, the world's biggest technology companies suddenly led the way again after spending much of the year in the doghouse, triggered by earnings from Microsoft and Amazon showing accelerating AI-related revenue growth. The rally intensified late in the month when a blockbuster outlook from Nvidia spurred gains in technology stocks, with the company surging almost 9% and adding $442 billion in market value after guiding to about 70% revenue growth next fiscal year, a session in which the S&P 500 ended 0.7% higher even as every other sector fell, with the equal-weight benchmark actually declining, reflecting how narrow the advance was. Industrials, the second-largest detractor, and Consumer Discretionary also worked against the fund in a month when tariff-exposed cyclicals and household names came under pressure, consistent with reporting that European equities may be underestimating the risk posed by US tariffs as healthcare, industrials and consumer discretionary remain the most exposed, while broader risk appetite was also dented mid-month when the S&P 500 lost 0.9% as Walmart sank on disappointing sales and oil settled near $88 after Trump's threat to crush the Iranian economy clouded peace prospects. Energy's modest drag fits a similar pattern of oil volatility through the month, with crude spiking on Strait of Hormuz tensions before easing later when Brent crude settled below $90 on hopes for a revival of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran and Oman discussing an interim framework. Utilities, by contrast, provided the fund's largest positive effect, though this came against a backdrop where the sector's leadership had already been fading, since after starting 2026 with a surge of more than 11% through February, utilities in the S&P 500 were almost flat year-to-date for the second-worst performance among the 11 main industries, suggesting the fund's stance in this sector was rewarded even as the broader utilities trade cooled.

OutlookAI-drafted

Bloomberg's compilation of 2026 outlooks found broad consensus that AI remains the dominant equity theme, with the BlackRock Investment Institute arguing the technology will likely "keep trumping tariffs and traditional macro drivers", even as several strategists cautioned on concentration: JPMorgan Wealth Management noted "the biggest risk, to us, is not having exposure to this transformational technology," while Fidelity flagged that "there is a disconnect between the positive short-term environment for risk assets, and a broader structural instability," citing global fragmentation, a depreciating dollar and AI capex trends as themes to watch. This debate bears directly on the fund's 5.1% underweight to Information Technology and 3.5% underweight to Communication Services, sectors that continue to carry the bulk of AI-driven index concentration that commentators such as JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and former Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey have separately warned about. On rates, State Street's 2026 outlook argued for "a more supportive macro backdrop for global growth," with policy rates likely to fall as the Fed takes stock of a softening labour market, a backdrop that has historically favoured bank earnings and lending margins and is consistent with reporting that financials were among the best-performing sectors of 2025, supporting the case for the fund's 8.3% overweight to that sector. The 4.5% overweight to Industrials sits against a more mixed signal, with Bloomberg Intelligence analysts flagging that trade tariffs, softening demand and geopolitical uncertainty could be key risks for the cyclical and volatile industrial sector in 2026, a caution that applies equally to the fund's smaller underweights in Consumer Discretionary and Real Estate given their sensitivity to the same trade and rate variables.