Spheria Australian Smaller Companies Fund Returns -3.3% in October 2026, Outperforms Benchmark by 3.2%

Aditi Sarkar

06 November 2026 04:39 PM AEDT

Spheria Australian Smaller Companies Fund Returns -3.3% in October 2026, Outperforms Benchmark by 3.2%

Image Source: Krish Capital Pty Ltd

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Spheria Australian Smaller Companies Fund - Active ETF (ASX:SPHX) returned -3.3% after fees for the month ending 31 October 2026, outperforming the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index, which returned -6.4%, by 3.2 percentage points, according to the fund's monthly investment update lodged with the exchange on 6 November 2026.

Key Points

The fund returned -3.3% (after fees) in October 2026, versus the benchmark return of -6.4%, a difference of 3.2 percentage points.
Top five holdings as at 31 October 2026 were Supply Network Limited (5.4%), Bapcor Limited (5.3%), Perpetual Limited (4.5%), Orora Limited (4.0%), and New Hope Corporation Limited (3.7%), totalling 22.9% of the portfolio.
Largest contributors to monthly performance included Healius (+15%), an overweight in Orora (+9%), and an overweight in Karoon Energy (+10%).
Largest detractors included not holding Data#3 (+33%), not holding Pinnacle Investment Management Group (+16%), and not holding AUB Group (+11%).

October 2026 Performance Against Benchmark

For the month ending 31 October 2026, the fund returned -3.3% after fees, compared with the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index return of -6.4%, representing outperformance of 3.2 percentage points. Over longer periods, the fund disclosed annualised returns of 12.8% over three years, 2.5% over five years, 7.1% over seven years, and 8.3% over ten years, against respective benchmark returns of 10.0%, 0.6%, 4.0%, and 5.9%. Since the unquoted class inception date of 11 July 2016, the fund has returned 8.1% per annum, compared with the benchmark's 5.6% per annum.

Market Conditions During October 2026

The filing described global equity markets trending lower during the month, with the NASDAQ down 5% and the KOSPI falling as much as 20% peak to trough before a partial recovery. The small and micro-cap segment of the Australian market significantly underperformed the top 50. The small-cap resources index fell 14% for the month, driven in part by a falling gold price. The filing also noted the withdrawal of a planned ASX listing by Nvidia-backed Firmus following investor concerns over its valuation of approximately A$44 billion, and confirmation of a further interest rate rise attributed to higher-than-expected inflation.

Portfolio Positioning and Fund Details

The fund's strong relative performance for the month was supported by an underweight position to materials, according to the filing. The fund's market capitalisation breakdown showed 59.3% in companies with a market cap above $1 billion, 20.5% in the $500 million to $1 billion range, 10.4% in the $250 million to $500 million range, and 9.5% in the $0 to $250 million range, with 0.4% in cash. The fund targets generally 30 to 80 holdings, charges a management fee of 1.10% per annum and a 20% performance fee on excess returns versus the benchmark, and distributes half-yearly.

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