CASH FUNDS PERFORMANCE
The RBA’s overnight cash rate target was raised by 50bps in August to 1.85%. 3-month BBSW finished the month 34bps higher at 2.46% while 6-month BBSW gained 23bps to 3.01%. Expectations in the cash futures market moved to reflect a noticeably steeper path for the actual cash rate over the second half of 2022 and through 2023. At the end of the month, contracts implied the actual cash rate would rise from 1.81% to 3.81% by September 2023.
CASH FUNDS
| AUSTRALIAN CASH FUNDS | 1m (%) | 3m (%) | 1y (%) | 3y (%) | 5y (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Cash Management Trust | 0.01 | 0.03 | 0.13 | 0.12 | 0.32 |
| BT Premium Cash | 0.12 | 0.24 | 0.29 | 0.29 | 0.82 |
| IOOF Cash Management Trust | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.30 | 0.97 |
| Sandhurst Cash Common Fund | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.06 | 0.34 |
| UBS Cash | 0.17 | 0.35 | 0.36 | 0.33 | 0.90 |
The benchmark Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill index returned 0.16% over the month and 0.37% over the 12 months to the end of August.
ENHANCED CASH FUNDS PERFORMANCE
The Prime Value Enhanced Income Fund took the honours as the highest-returning enhanced cash fund in the August survey. The fund produced a return of 0.70% for the month while the Mutual Income Fund was not far behind with a return of 0.67%. Perpetual’s High Grade Treasury Fund returned 0.39%, ranking it in third place for the month.
The returns of all three funds outperformed the 0.16% return produced by the Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill Index in August. All three funds also produced returns in excess of the 0.37% returned by the AusBond FRN Index.
In terms of performance over the twelve months to the end of August, the Realm Short Term Income Fund retained its title as the highest performing fund by producing a return of 0.67% for the period. The Vanguard Cash Reserve Fund again produced the next-highest performance for this period with a return of 0.27% while AMP Capital Managed Treasury Fund produced a return of 0.22% to again rank third.
The Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill and FRN indices returned 0.37% and 0.09% respectively over the 12-month period to the end of August. All three funds’ returns outperformed both the FRN Index and the Bank Bill Index.
ENHANCED CASH FUNDS
| AUSTRALIAN ENHANCED CASH FUNDS | ASX mFund | 1m (%) | 3m (%) | 1y (%) | 3y (%) | 5y (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMP Capital Managed Treasury | 0.20 | 0.38 | 0.22 | 0.45 | 1.05 | |
| Antares Income Fund | ANT01 | 0.35 | 0.08 | -0.90 | 0.69 | 1.33 |
| Australian Ethical Cash Trust | 0.18 | 0.29 | -0.05 | 0.34 | 0.86 | |
| BT Wholesale Enhanced Cash | 0.29 | 0.39 | 0.08 | 0.97 | 1.56 | |
| Dimensional Short Term Fixed Interest | -0.19 | -0.04 | -1.34 | -0.10 | 0.74 | |
| Fiducian Capital Safe | 0.19 | 0.30 | 0.07 | 0.27 | 0.83 | |
| IOOF MultiMix Cash Enhanced Trust | 0.27 | 0.28 | -0.46 | 0.62 | 1.19 | |
| Legg Mason Western Asset Conservative Income Fund | 0.15 | 0.34 | -0.29 | 0.48 | 1.12 | |
| Mutual Income Fund | 0.67 | 0.53 | -0.79 | 0.95 | 1.71 | |
| MLC Wholesale Horizon 1 Bond Portfolio | -0.14 | -0.23 | -2.82 | -0.32 | 0.67 | |
| Henderson Cash Enhanced Trust | 0.29 | 0.29 | -0.79 | 0.74 | 1.30 | |
| Perpetual High Grade Treasury | 0.39 | 0.32 | -0.43 | 1.11 | 1.83 | |
| Prime Value Enhanced Income Fund | 0.70 | 0.28 | -1.26 | 0.23 | 1.49 | |
| Realm Short Term Income Fund | RLM02 | 0.09 | -0.31 | 0.67 | 1.97 | n/a |
| Sandhurst Strategic Income A | 0.30 | 0.12 | -0.53 | 0.59 | 1.21 | |
| Smarter Money Active Cash Fund | 0.29 | -0.14 | -0.68 | 0.64 | 1.34 | |
| UBS Cash Plus | 0.30 | 0.38 | 0.02 | 0.49 | 1.20 | |
| Vanguard Cash Reserve | 0.17 | 0.34 | 0.27 | 0.27 | 0.87 | |
| Vanguard Cash Plus | 0.05 | 0.30 | -0.52 | 0.25 | 1.02 | |
| Bloomberg AusBond Bank 0+Y TR AUD | 0.16 | 0.33 | 0.37 | 0.36 | 0.95 |
*End of August 2022. Return in AUD after fees.