Generate Fund Performance - October 2026

International Equities 

Global equity markets were weaker during October, with a late-month AI-driven sell-off weighing on technology-heavy indices. The MSCI World Index fell 0.8% in US$ terms. In the US, the Nasdaq dropped 5.3%, its steepest monthly fall since March 2025, while the S&P 500 declined 0.9%. Disappointing earnings from Amazon and Alphabet rekindled concerns about how much Big Tech is spending on AI, and weak results from Intel added to the pressure on the final trading day of the month.

RELX was the strongest contributor within the portfolio, rising 20.8% during the month. The shares rebounded sharply as fears that AI tools could erode the pricing power of specialist information providers began to ease, and investors reassessed evidence that AI is accelerating rather than undermining RELX’s growth. A trading update during the month reinforced the case: RELX reported strong underlying revenue growth for the first nine months of 2026 and reaffirmed its full-year outlook. The company also continued to return capital through share buybacks.

Visa also performed strongly, gaining 15.2%. The shares hit a record high in mid-October, helped by China’s central bank approving Visa’s application to prepare a domestic bankcard clearing business and the move of Visa Direct’s stablecoin prefunding into commercial deployment. Fiscal fourth-quarter results in mate October were better than expected. Payments volumes rose 9% to $4.08 trillion, slightly ahead of estimates, and management guided to low-double-digit adjusted net revenue growth for fiscal 2027. The board also raised the quarterly dividend by 16%.

On the downside, Alphabet declined 18.3% during the month. The shares were already weak alongside other AI-linked stocks, then fell sharply in late October when third-quarter earnings missed. Revenue rose 25% and Google Cloud revenue surged 103%, but capital expenditure of US$51.4 billion pushed free cash flow negative, and an $8.7 billion loss on equity investments weighed on earnings per share. Management kept 2026 capex guidance at $195–205 billion, and investors focused on the cost of the AI build-out rather than the strength of the cloud business.

SK Hynix fell 19.0%, reversing some of its recent strength. The company remains a leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory used in advanced AI systems and data centres, an area that has benefited from exceptionally strong demand. Sentiment towards Korean memory stocks weakened on concerns about AI revenues and inflation. The share price did pick up on third-quarter results at the end of the month which were a record, and as the company also announced a new 20 trillion won buyback, and expectations that the memory shortage would last until 2030. The relief proved short-lived when Intel said high memory prices were slowing PC sales, with investors worried that elevated prices could eventually dampen demand. Despite the October sell-off, the shares remain up more than 110% year to date.

We remain positive on the name. SK Hynix’s DRAM and high-bandwidth memory volumes are effectively sold out through 2029, which gives unusual visibility on earnings, and a supply shortage that management expects to persist to 2030 supports pricing. Profitability is exceptional, shareholder returns are substantial, and the shares trade on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of around 4.5 times 2027 analyst estimates, a valuation that already assumes much of the cycle is close to peaking. The main risk is that high memory prices dampen demand elsewhere, as Intel’s comments suggested, and we will monitor this closely.

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New Zealand & Australian equities

Australasian equity markets were mixed during October, with the NZX50 down 0.3% and the ASX100 Industrials up 2.3%. Market performance was influenced by the evolving interest-rate outlook and domestic economic conditions, while company-specific developments drove several significant moves across the portfolio. Positive contributors benefited from contract momentum, improving operating data and initiatives to unlock shareholder value, while New Zealand retirement village operators remained under pressure amid uncertainty surrounding residential property conditions and interest rates.

Pro Medicus was the strongest contributor during the month, advancing 19.7%. The company announced further contract wins, consistent with its strategy of converting hospitals from legacy picture archiving and communication systems onto its cloud-based imaging platform. Encouragingly, Pro Medicus has yet to lose a customer, reinforcing the strength of its product offering and the highly embedded nature of its relationships with healthcare providers. Management also participated in a broker conference during the month, addressing concerns that artificial intelligence could reduce demand for radiologists. The company instead highlighted the potential for AI to improve radiologist productivity and increase imaging volumes, which would support Pro Medicus’ transaction-based revenue model.

SEEK gained 13.0% as Australian employment data proved more resilient than investors had anticipated. Job advertisement volumes for September, reported during October, increased 0.4% from the previous month. Although volumes remained 4.0% below the prior year, the result was ahead of market expectations and followed a modest sequential improvement in August.

A further positive development was management’s announcement of a restructuring programme for the SEEK Growth Fund. The initiative is targeting approximately A$840 million of liquidity, with around A$1 billion of assets being considered for near-term realisation processes. The market responded positively to the potential release of capital, although the programme may involve the sale of both core and non-core investments.

Origin Energy rose 11.4% following a stronger-than-expected quarterly performance from Australia Pacific LNG. Origin’s share of APLNG net sales revenue reached approximately A$716 million, comfortably exceeding consensus expectations of around A$645 million. Stronger realised LNG prices more than offset weaker production during the period.

APLNG revenue increased 22.5% from the prior year despite production declining 4.2%. Average realised pricing rose by approximately 34%, supported by higher oil-linked contract prices and attractive spot LNG sales. The result highlighted the earnings leverage provided by Origin’s exposure to oil-linked LNG pricing.

On the downside, Oceania Healthcare declined 14.5% as sentiment towards New Zealand’s retirement village sector remained weak. Investor concerns centred on uncertainty surrounding the general election, subdued residential property prices, and the impact of previously higher interest rates. These factors continued to create uncertainty around prospective residents’ ability and willingness to sell their existing homes, notwithstanding the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s decision to leave the Official Cash Rate unchanged later in the month.

Summerset Group fell 12.0%, affected by the same macroeconomic concerns as Oceania Healthcare and a mixed third-quarter sales update. Total settlements declined 1% from the prior year to 415, while new sales dropped 28% to 175. The weakness was concentrated in new developments, reflecting softer residential property conditions and prospective residents delaying the sale of their existing homes.

Performance across Summerset’s established portfolio was considerably stronger. Resale volumes increased 36% to 240, including approximately 93% growth in care resales. Total settlements for the first nine months of the year were 10% ahead of the prior corresponding period, demonstrating continued resilience within the company’s mature village portfolio despite weaker new sales.

Returns to the 30th October 2026 

(after fees* and before tax) 

Generate KiwiSaver Funds:

Generate Managed Funds:

** The Generate KiwiSaver Scheme funds opened on 16 April 2013. The Generate Focused Growth Trust opened on 1 November 2019.

^ these funds were established on 16 May 2022.

^^ these funds were established on 3 July 2023.

^^^ these funds were established on 30 April 2025.

Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future performance.

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Top Holdings as of the 30th October 2026

Generate total Funds Under Management (FUM) as of 30th of October 2026:
⁠$ 10,