Peter Costello and the Future Fund Fiddle

The latest portfolio update from the Future Fund confirmed that the average annual return on its investments has been 7.7 percent since it was established in May 2006. Former Treasurer Peter Costello, who chairs the Future Fund Board of Guardians, judged this return to be good to the point where he claimed that it was successful in “exceeding the return objective”. That is an expansive claim. In the media release there was a table that showed the 7.7 percent annual return that Costello referred to. It also noted that the ‘target return’ or objective for the Future Fund since inception was 6.9 per cent, which no doubt leads Costello to his conclusion that the 7.7 percent was larger and had exceeded the objective. Alas, that target return for the Future Fund in its own media release is misleading. Read my thoughts on the Future Fund update here: (VIEW LINK)