Fund-vs-fund · Australasian Equities
Mercer Responsible Trans-Tasman Shares Fund vs SBS Wealth Australasian Equity Portfolio
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 risk indicator rating despite identical growth asset allocations. Both the Mercer Responsible Trans-Tasman Shares Fund and the SBS Wealth Australasian Equity Portfolio hold 98.31% in growth assets, yet Mercer carries a risk indicator of 5 (higher volatility) against SBS Wealth's rating of 4 (moderate-to-high volatility) on the FMA's 1–7 scale. This divergence likely reflects differences in the underlying securities mix and concentration rather than asset class weighting alone.
On fees, SBS Wealth discloses an annual fund charge of 1.20% versus Mercer's 1.06%, a 14-basis-point gap on broadly similar portfolio sizes — Mercer at approximately NZD 31.7 million and SBS Wealth at approximately NZD 30.3 million. Five-year returns also differ materially: SBS Wealth returns 1.12% per annum against Mercer's near-flat 0.01%, though past performance does not predict future results and the responsible-investing screen applied by Mercer may exclude holdings that contributed to broader market returns over that period.
Structurally, Mercer holds individual Trans-Tasman securities directly, with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare at 16.29% the largest single position. SBS Wealth's largest holding at 18.15% is the Dimensional Australian Sustainability PIE Fund, a pooled vehicle that itself introduces a layer of underlying holdings and associated costs not fully visible in this snapshot. Neither fund is a KiwiSaver scheme account product based on available data.
Verify all figures against each fund's current product disclosure statement and latest quarterly fund update on FMA Disclose before relying on this comparison.
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
- Mercer Responsible Trans-Tasman Shares Fund charges 0.14% lower in annual fund charges (1.06% vs 1.20%).
- Both are New Zealand PIE funds — investor tax is capped at the Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), maximum 28%.
- Mercer Responsible Trans-Tasman Shares 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
Mercer
1.06%
Upper half of cohort
SBS Wealth
1.20%
Highest 22% of cohort
5-year return p.a.
Past performance — not a predictor
Mercer
0.01%
Bottom 1% over 5 years
SBS Wealth
1.12%
Lower half over 5 years
Fund size
Larger = more stable, lower close-risk
Mercer
NZ$32m
Lower half by size
SBS Wealth
NZ$30m
Lower half by size
| Metric | Mercer | SBS Wealth | Lower / higher is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fund charge | 1.06% | 1.20% | Lower is better |
| Risk indicator (1–7) | 5 | 4 | Higher = more volatility |
| 5-year return p.a. | 0.01% | 1.12% | Higher is better (past not future) |
| Fund size | NZ$32m | NZ$30m | 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
7
of each fund's top 10
Mercer weight in shared
55.1%
of Mercer Responsible Trans-Tasman Shares Fund top 10 is shared
SBS Wealth weight in shared
41.0%
of SBS Wealth Australasian Equity Portfolio top 10 is shared
| Holding | Mercer | SBS Wealth |
|---|---|---|
 Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited NZ | 16.29% | 9.06% |
 Contact Energy Limited NZ | 7.11% | 6.55% |
 Infratil Limited NZ | 10.52% | 6.17% |
 Meridian Energy Limited NZ | 5.22% | 6.23% |
 Auckland International Airport Limited NZ | 8.80% | 4.98% |
 EBOS Group Limited AU | 4.15% | 4.25% |
 Spark New Zealand Limited NZ | 3.05% | 3.77% |
"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
Mercer
Mercer Responsible Trans-Tasman Shares Fund
The fund is a diversified portfolio of predominantly New Zealand shares across a range of industries and sectors. The portfolio may also invest in Australian shares. The fund is managed to include specific additional responsible exclusions criteria which aims to avoid investments in certain companies or activities, and is managed with reference to environmental, social and governance factors. This fund has additional exclusions applied as described in our Sustainable Investment Policy and has been certified by the Responsible Investment Association of AustralasiaFull Mercer Mercer Responsible Trans-Tasman Shares Fund profile →
SBS Wealth
SBS Wealth Australasian Equity Portfolio
The Fund aims to achieve capital growth and returns over the long-term through investing primarily in a portfolio of Australasian equities, either directly or indirectly via an underlying fund diversified across various sectors.Full SBS Wealth SBS Wealth Australasian Equity Portfolio profile →
Documents
Crawled directly from each manager's website. How we record provenance →
SBS Wealth
Common questions
What's the difference between the Mercer Responsible Trans-Tasman Shares Fund and the SBS Wealth Australasian Equity Portfolio?
Which fund has lower fees, Mercer Responsible Trans-Tasman Shares Fund or SBS Wealth Australasian Equity Portfolio?
How do the 5-year returns compare?
Are both funds PIE-taxed in NZ?
Does either fund apply responsible-investment screening?
Where can I read the official documents for these funds?
