The Australian Growth Fund fell -1.9% in December, lagging the benchmark index which returned +1.7%. The benchmark index was bolstered by the resources heavy Materials sector which returned +6.6% as a year end commodity rally across gold, copper and lithium boosted the share prices of miners.

Construction Materials company Maas Group (+20%) was one of our best performing companies in December. During the month, it announced a significant A$200m electrical contract with AI company Firmus, which is establishing a meaningful data centre facility in Tasmania. Maas is working hard to deliver high voltage electrical infrastructure to its client within twelve months. This puts Maas in a good position to win a further A$1bn of electrification work that Firmus is expected to require over the next few years.

Insurance broker AUB Group (-17%) was our worst performing position in the month. AUB had received a non-binding takeover offer from a private equity consortium a few months ago. This had sparked a sharp rally in the AUB share price. As a consequence of the offer, the AUB Board allowed the consortium to undertake due diligence on the company for a limited time period. In early December, the consortium terminated discussions and elected not to complete a binding offer for the company. Having rallied on the announcement of the takeover discussions, AUB's share price fell back sharply in the month. AUB reiterated its FY26 earnings guidance implying earnings growth of between 7.4% – 13.4% over FY25. We believe AUB is a well-managed company with an attractive business model.