Fund-vs-fund · Australasian Equities
BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund vs Summer Australian Equities
Both are Australasian Equities funds available to NZ retail investors. Numbers below are sourced from the FMA Disclose register via Sorted Smart Investor and reflect the latest published quarterly fund updates.
Why these two differ
The most material structural difference between these two funds is their investment mandate. Summer Australian Equities operates as a broad-market Australian equities fund with no disclosed sustainability screen, while BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund applies an ESG-based selection process that explicitly excludes companies the manager deems inconsistent with sustainability criteria. This filtering produces meaningfully different portfolios: Summer's top holdings are led by BHP Group (9.69%) and major Australian banks including Commonwealth Bank (7.10%) and Westpac (4.68%), whereas BetaShares holds Woolworths Group (6.34%), Telstra (5.47%), and Brambles (4.37%), with no overlap visible in the top five of either fund.
Fee structures also differ. Summer charges a 1.02% annual fund charge against BetaShares' 0.67%, a 35-basis-point gap that compounds materially over time. Both funds carry a risk indicator of 5 out of 7, and both hold approximately 98% in growth assets, so their risk profiles are broadly comparable on those measures.
On performance, Summer discloses a five-year annualised return of 8.01%. BetaShares' five-year return figure is not available in this snapshot, likely reflecting the fund's shorter NZ-domiciled history, so a like-for-like return comparison cannot be made here. Fund sizes are similar — Summer at NZD 17.5 million and BetaShares at NZD 14.9 million.
Both are retail managed funds, not KiwiSaver scheme accounts. Verify all figures against each fund's current Product Disclosure Statement and latest Quarterly Fund Update on FMA Disclose before relying on any of this information.
Cached comparison generated 2026-05-21 from each fund's latest FMA Disclose QFU. Regenerated when the underlying facts change.
What's different at a glance
- BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund charges 0.35% lower in annual fund charges (0.67% vs 1.02%).
- Both are New Zealand PIE funds — investor tax is capped at the Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), maximum 28%.
- BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund applies responsible-investment / ESG screening. The other fund does not.
Where each fund sits in its cohort
Percentile rank vs all 58 australasian equities funds we've matched on Sorted Smart Investor. Mechanical only — no opinion, no forward-looking view.
Annual fund charge
Lower is better
BetaShares
0.67%
Lower half of cohort
Summer
1.02%
Upper half of cohort
5-year return p.a.
Past performance — not a predictor
BetaShares
—
—
Summer
8.01%
Top 15% over 5 years
Fund size
Larger = more stable, lower close-risk
BetaShares
NZ$15m
Smallest 16% in cohort
Summer
NZ$17m
Smallest 20% in cohort
| Metric | BetaShares | Summer | Lower / higher is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fund charge | 0.67% | 1.02% | Lower is better |
| Risk indicator (1–7) | 5 | 5 | Higher = more volatility |
| 5-year return p.a. | — | 8.01% | Higher is better (past not future) |
| Fund size | NZ$15m | NZ$17m | Larger = more stable, lower close-risk |
| Growth / income split | 98% / 2% | 98% / 2% | More growth = higher long-run return + volatility |
| NZ tax structure | PIE (PIR-capped) | PIE (PIR-capped) | PIE = simpler. FIF = annual return. |
| Currency hedging | — | — | Hedged smooths NZD/foreign FX moves at a small cost. |
| Responsible investment screening | Yes | No | Specific exclusions live in each fund's SIPO. |
| Available via | InvestNow · Direct | Direct | Platforms accepting retail subscriptions. |
Portfolio overlap
How many top-10 positions both funds hold, and at what weight. Computed from each fund's most recently disclosed top-10 holdings — exact-name matched (Microsoft Corp. = Microsoft Corporation), with a Cash / Cash & Equivalents collapse rule.
Matching holdings
3
of each fund's top 10
BetaShares weight in shared
12.5%
of BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund top 10 is shared
Summer weight in shared
8.1%
of Summer Australian Equities top 10 is shared
| Holding | BetaShares | Summer |
|---|---|---|
 CSL AU | 3.32% | 3.52% |
| TE Telstra Corp AU | 5.47% | 2.35% |
 Goodman Group AU | 3.73% | 2.24% |
"Min weight" = the smaller of the two weights — a conservative read of how much exposure you'd have to that position if you held both funds.
What each fund says it does
BetaShares
BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund
The fund aims to provide an investment return that tracks the performance of the Nasdaq Future Australian Sustainability Leaders Index, before taking into account fees and expenses.Full BetaShares BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund profile →
Summer
Summer Australian Equities
The Summer Australian Equities fund invests mostly in Australian shares, and can invest in New Zealand listed shares where the company has meaningful operations in Australia. We aim to achieve long-term returns (before fees, taxes and other expenses) greater than the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index, 50% hedged to the New Zealand dollar.Full Summer Summer Australian Equities profile →
Common questions
What's the difference between the BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund and the Summer Australian Equities?
Which fund has lower fees, BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund or Summer Australian Equities?
Are both funds PIE-taxed in NZ?
Does either fund apply responsible-investment screening?
Where can I read the official documents for these funds?
