Newton’s 1st Law: An object in motion remains in motion
February delivered broadly positive fund performance for the fourth month in a row. The year-to-date theme of strong shares and weaker bonds persists, with notable outperformance of global shares over NZ and Australian shares.
The past month has seen companies around the world reporting results, keeping Milford’s investment team busy as we assess the outlook for our holdings. It was pleasing to see some strong results from our key holdings. Technology companies and excitement over AI is garnering plenty of attention, and our funds have been invested in companies along this theme. Meta is a core holding and announced impressive annual revenue growth of 25%, sending the stock up 26% last month and 50% over the past three months.
Uber Technologies is another stock we have invested in heavily. The company is focused on becoming a blue-chip investment and this is paying off as the shares rallied 22% last month and 41% over the past three months. Some lower profile stocks are also delivering solid returns. For example, Spanish airport operator Aena has been quietly rallying over the past few months, including a 6.6% gain in February.
Australian and NZ shares were clear underperformers, but company reporting continues to offer opportunities for stock picking. In Australia, property company Goodman Group continues to be a solid performer, up 18% in the past month as its strategy of investing in data centres resonates with investors.
