The New Zealand Growth Fund returned +2.2% in September, compared to its benchmark of +3.0%. 

Infratil (+9%) hosted an investor day in Sydney, showcasing its portfolio of growth infrastructure investments. Its data centre business, CDC, closed out the day with an upbeat presentation that foreshadowed major contract wins with 100MW announced the following week. CDC has now secured 95% of the revenue required to deliver its target of doubling 2025 earnings by 2027. 

Longroad Energy, Infratil's US-based developer of renewable electricity projects, also provided a positive outlook. Despite changes to tax subsidies, Longroad remains confident in its strong development pipeline and confirmed that its equity needs are similar to what it expected before the changes. 

Xero (-4%) saw its share price decline during the month despite no material news. Early in September, we attended the sold-out XeroCon in Brisbane: Xero’s annual flagship technology and innovation conference for accountants, bookkeepers, and small businesses that use its cloud accounting software. 

Hot on the heels of releasing over 300 product features in the past 12 months, Chief Product Officer Diya Jolly stole the spotlight, unveiling an additional 30 new launches targeted for the ANZ audience. With a bold vision to “reimagine accounting through AI,” these features aim to automate workflows, deliver actionable insights. They also reflect extensive feedback from accountants and small business customers. Over time, Xero aspires to automate 90% of manual accounting tasks while reinforcing its role as a trusted partner. 

As part of the event, Xero also hosted the investor community for a series of fireside chats with its executive leadership team, including the CEO of Melio, the US payments platform Xero is acquiring. We left reassured by the cadence of product development, which we believe will continue to drive value for accountants and small businesses and in turn, expand Xero’s revenue opportunities. We were also again impressed by the energy, depth and quality of the executive team across the board. Management also stood by its near- and medium-term targets.