Introduction to our Unit Trust PIE Funds

Milford has four PIE registered Unit Trust Funds available to New Zealand investors.

• The Milford Income Fund
• The Milford Balanced Fund
• The Milford Active Growth Fund
• The Milford Trans-Tasman Fund

The Balanced, Active Growth and Trans-Tasman Funds are focused upon generating long-term growth for their investors and incur varying levels of risk to achieve this. As its name suggests the Income Fund is more focused on generating income for its investors. These Funds all benefit from Milford’s rigorous research process and experienced Investment Committee to select investments.

What is the difference between the Funds?

The key difference between the Funds is their investment objectives and relative risk profiles. The chart above illustrates the difference between the Funds individually (and in combination) in terms of their expected risk and return characteristics over the longer term. The following outlines some key differences in the Funds ranking them from lowest to highest expected risk levels.

• The Milford Income Fund looks to generate income for investors with an investment horizon of at least three years.  The Fund’s objective is to exceed (after fees and before tax) what investors could get from bank deposit investments and to provide sufficient income and capital growth to protect investors against inflation.   However the nature of its bond and share investments means that some negative or positive fluctuations in the unit price of the Income Fund will occur.  Therefore it is not guaranteed that the Fund’s capital value (unit price) will not fall from time to time.  The Milford Income Fund will take an active approach to bond and equity sector allocations and the securities chosen within each sector.
• The Milford Balanced Fund’s objective is to provide consistent positive long-term capital growth from a diversified mix of investments, including New Zealand bonds and shares and global bonds and shares, either directly or indirectly through pooled funds. It will be actively managed in terms of the sector weightings and currency exposure to reflect our investment outlook and aims to generate positive long-term returns through good times and bad. It can hold material levels of cash or low risk investments when attractive investment opportunities are scarce.
   
• The Milford Active Growth Fund’s objective is to generate positive annual returns of at least 10% (after fees and before tax) in good markets and bad. To achieve this, the Fund is actively managed and will usually be primarily invested directly in shares in New Zealand and Australian companies. However, it can hold material levels of cash and bonds when attractive opportunities are scarce and the prospect for share markets is poor.
   
• The Milford Trans-Tasman Fund’s objective is to outperform a 50/50 mix of the New Zealand and Australian sharemarkets. The Fund normally has more than 80% invested in New Zealand and Australian shares and will more closely track the performance of markets compared to the Active Growth Fund (ie it is a higher risk fund). It focuses on companies that Milford believes are in attractive industries, have a strong competitive position and excellent management and Board.

To read the Investment Statement for the Unit Trust PIE Funds please click here.
A prospectus for the Milford Income Fund, Milford Balanced Fund, Milford Active Growth Fund and Milford Trans-Tasman Fund (the Milford Unit Trust PIE Funds) was registered with the Registrar of Financial Service Providers on 14 September 2011. To view a copy of the prospectus please click here.