The fund has returned 8.53% since it was started in 2003 by former Labour finance minister Sir Michael Cullen. It has returned 6.8% in the last five years and 12.7% in the last three years.
In comparison, The Treasury bill rate was 0.2% in March, 2.46% in the last 12 months, 2.6% in the last three years, 3.44% in the last five years and 5.01% since 2003.
Nearly 22%, or $3.4 billion, has been invested in New Zealand assets, the fund's March report showed yesterday. The current Government stopped contributions after its election in 2008.
The fund's largest listed New Zealand investment is $154.8 million in Fletcher Building, followed by $114 million in Telecom and $86 million in Auckland International Airport.
Overseas, it has $340.4 million invested in Transurban Group, $62.8 million in Zurich Airport and $49.9 million in Simon Property Group. It also has $43.7 million invested in Samsung and $28.5 million in Apple, the two main global competitors in the smartphone market.
The unlisted investments are led by $945.1 million in Kaingaroa, $523.9 million in Z Energy (which it may sell down through a partial listing), and $273.2 million in Horizon Roads.
Recent investments included a $140 million stake in technology services company Datacom; a $116 million portfolio of 11 New Zealand dairy farms and (subject to customary closing conditions) the purchase of an additional 1.25% of Kaingaroa Forest. The fund's long-term performance expectation was that it would beat the Treasury bill rate by at least 2.5% over rolling 20-year periods. Since inception, the fund had exceeded the bill rate by 3.52%.
The New Zealand Superannuation Fund also announced it had sold a portfolio of 11 forestry blocks in the North Island.
General manager investments Matt Whineray said selling the forest blocks would enable the Fund to focus on other domestic and international investment opportunities.
''In line with our objective to maximise the fund's returns over the long term, and factoring in the growth opportunities in other parts of our portfolio, we see more attractive investment opportunities for our purposes elsewhere.''
The China National Forest Products Trading Corporation, a log importer and subsidiary of the state-owned China Forestry Group Corporation, had purchased the majority of the portfolio, subject to Chinese regulatory approval. The remaining assets had been sold to New Zealand investors, Mr Whineray said.
Following the sale, the Fund's New Zealand timber investments would still exceed $1 billion, including its major stake in the 178,000ha Kaingaroa Forest in the central North Island.
The Fund also has more than a billion dollars invested in the New Zealand sharemarket, he said.
The timber portfolio that has been sold comprises forest crop and around 14,000ha of land in locations throughout the North Island. The bulk of the portfolio was purchased by the Fund in 2005, with some minor additions in 2008. The sale to CNFP has been approved by New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office.
The sale price was confidential, Mr Whineray said.
