Advisers on the AUSIEX platform took advantage of weaker share prices last month to build positions in several companies, while also favouring exchange traded funds which invest in Australian blue chips.

What's new

• Commonwealth Bank was on the radar of advisers in September as they appeared to take advantage of a 5% fall in its share price to build holdings for clients. Shares of Australia’s biggest bank closed at $151.01 on September 30, versus $166.90 a year earlier.
• They also appeared to build positions in cloud accounting software company Xero as its share price continued to fall, dropping by 31% over the month to $56.92.
• Meanwhile, advisers sold more shares than they bought in resource companies like Woodside Energy Group, BHP Group, as well as Ramsay Health Care (which rose around 7.5% last month).
• Advisers’ preferred exchange traded funds for the month included those with a focus on blue chip Australian companies, including the Betashares Australian Quality ETF (which tracks an index of 40 high quality local companies) and Vanguard’s $8.2 billion Australian Shares High Yield ETF.

Why it matters

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 3.1% in September as economic uncertainty, rising bond yields and geopolitical tensions weighed on sentiment. Advisers seemed to take a disciplined approach in this environment, rebalancing portfolios where appropriate and taking advantage of selective buying opportunities.

	Ticker	Name	Buy/Sell
	WDS	Woodside Energy Group	0.32
	CBA	Commonwealth Bank of Australia	0.61
	RHC	Ramsay Health Care	0.05
	XRO	Xero	0.94
	SGM	Sims	0.96
	DNL	Dyno Nobel	0.98
	AQLT	Betashares Australian Quality ETF	0.95
	BHP	BHP Group	0.27
	VHY	Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF	0.83
	WES	Wesfarmers	0.68

Total traded volume in September for advised clients using the AUSIEX platform. A buy/sell ratio above 0.5 indicates a buy skew, below 0.5 indicates a sell skew.

Quick take

The mantra of buy low and sell high appeared to be on advisers’ minds in September as they adjusted portfolios in uncertain market conditions.

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