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Shane Oliver | AMP
Since the March 2009 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) low in share markets, Australian shares are up 138%, compared to a 310% gain in global shares in local currency terms and a 500% gain in US shares.
Last year though Australian shares outperformed global shares, helped by strong commodities and a less hawkish RBA. The big question is whether the structural underperformance by Australian shares since 2009 is over? Why have Australian shares underperformed?
To get a handle on the future, it’s useful to understand the past. The underperformance of Australian shares since 2009 reflects a mix of:
The swings in relative performance can also be seen in the next chart which shows the ratio of Australian share prices to global share prices.
An often-expressed view is that Australian companies are not investing because shareholders want high dividends and this could be causing poor profit growth & share returns. This is unlikely. The dividend payout ratio (ie dividends relative to earnings) is not out of line with its historic norm.
Australia’s high dividend payouts are in fact healthy from a long-term perspective. There is evidence that high payouts actually drive higher earnings growth and share returns as: high dividend payouts mean less risk of poor investment decisions from retained earnings; they are
indicative of corporate confidence about future earnings; and they indicate earnings are real and not accounting fiction.
In fact, because Australian shares pay relatively high dividend yields (around 4.4%) compared to global shares (2.5%) they should be included in comparisons of Australian with global share market returns. The next chart compares the relative performance of Australian to global shares since 1970 in terms of: relative share prices in local currency terms (green line); relative total returns ie with dividends added in (blue line); and relative total returns with global shares in Australian dollars (red line).
A rising ratio means Australian outperformance and vice versa. Several things stand out.
First over long periods of time and when dividends are allowed for Australian shares have had better returns than global shares.
Since 1970 Australian shares have returned (capital growth plus dividends) 10.1% per annum compared to 8.2% pa for global shares in local currency terms. The falling Australian dollar over this period has enhanced the return from global shares to 9.8% pa but they still underperformed Australian shares.
Second, the swings in the relative performance of Australian shares are apparent if dividends and currency movements are allowed for or not - in particular in the big outperformance in the 2000s and underperformance since 2009. Since October 2009, when Australian shares peaked relative to global shares, Australian shares have returned 7.7% pa compared to 9.7% pa from global shares in local currencies or 11.3% pa in Australian dollar terms.
Over the last year Australian shares have outperformed global shares and the various comparisons in the last chart have hooked higher. It could just be noise, but several fundamental considerations suggest that the structural relative underperformance since 2009 is likely to be over:
Finally, while Australian property prices likely have more downside there is no sign of a property crash dragging down banks and the economy into recession. In the absence of much higher interest rates this looks unlikely.
Shane Oliver is Chief Economist and Head of Investment Strategy at AMP. All prices and analysis at 30 January 2023. This information was produced by Airlie Funds Management. Investment in Airlie Australian Share Fund (“Fund”) is offered by Magellan Asset Management Limited ABN 31 120 593 946 AFS Licence No. 304 301. This material is intended to provide general advice only. It has been prepared without having regard to or taking into account any particular investor’s objectives, financial situation and/or needs. All investors should therefore consider the appropriateness of the advice, in light of their own objectives, financial situation and/or needs, before acting on the advice. This article does not reflect the views of WealthHub Securities Limited.