The top-performing global equity funds for FY26

The ASX might have been characterised by anaemic growth and troubling dislocations, but the picture for global equities has been far brighter over FY26.

Building on the strong performance of the top global funds in FY25, the last 12 months have been even more fruitful for these performers, with more than 10 funds returning 30% or more over FY26.

While the AI supercycle accounts for much of the outperformance, what the list below tells us is that there have still been great opportunities across the sector spectrum for global fund managers over the last 12 months. 

A global healthcare fund topped the list, with two climate-focused funds making the top 4. There were also three emerging markets funds in the top 10, alongside a global resources fund. 

How we compiled these lists

These global equity funds are all listed on the Livewire 'Find Funds' menu (top right-hand side of your page). It should be noted that this is not an exhaustive list of all the global equities funds domiciled in Australia - there are others not listed in Livewire's 'Find Funds' marketplace.

The filters we used were:

• In the “Fund type” box, select “Managed Funds”
• In “Asset Class”, select “shares - global"
• We then manually filtered results based on 1-year returns.

NOTE: While it is an interesting exercise to examine fund performance over a one-year period, most funds recommend minimum investment periods of five years or more. As such, it would be worthwhile to consider longer-term performance across cycles when researching funds or making investment decisions. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future return.

The Results

1.  Platinum International Health Sciences Fund

In a year when semiconductors and data centres led the AI trade and commodities boomed, it's actually a healthcare fund that has topped the list of the top-performing global equity funds.

Under Portfolio Manager Dr Bianca Ogden, the Platinum International Health Sciences Fund looks to offer "diversified equity exposure taking advantage of the changes and developments occurring in the fields of health care and medicine".

It returned 55.65% in FY26 and 9.5% p.a. since its inception in 2003 and aims to invest in 30 to 80 global healthcare companies, typically maintaining at least a 50% net equity exposure.

As of 30 June 2026, its largest holdings were Apogee Therapeutics (NYSE: APOG), Imricor Medical Systems (ASX: IMR) and Cogent Biosciences (NYSE: COGT), with most of its exposure in North America.

2. GMO Climate Change Trust

A different thematic fund comes in second place for FY26. The GMO Climate Change Trust returned 46.10% in FY26, bouncing back from a poor 2024 in which it returned -25.62%.

The fund looks to invest in companies it "believes are positioned to benefit, directly or indirectly, from efforts to curb or mitigate the long-term effects of global climate change, to address the environmental challenges presented by global climate change, or to help the world adapt to climate change through improved efficiency of resource consumption". 

It is managed by Portfolio Managers Lucas White and Tom Hancock, with the majority of its exposure in Industrials and Materials, which are also its biggest overweights. As of 31 May 2026, its largest holdings were Sunrun Inc (NYSE: RUN) and LG Chem Ltd (KRX: 051910).

3. ClearBridge Emerging Markets Fund

Given the number of AI chipmakers in Asia, it's no surprise that multiple Asian and Emerging Markets funds have made the list. But the best-performing of those is the ClearBridge Emerging Markets Fund.

The high-conviction strategy looks for "quality emerging market companies with robust balance sheets and growth potential", with a six-strong investment team. 

As you can see from the chart above, it recently had overweights in Tech and Industrials, as well as Korea, and somewhat surprisingly, India. 

Less surprising is that many of its largest holdings are the semiconductor names that have been some of the world's best-performing stocks over the last 12 months, including TSMC (TPE: 2330), Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930) and SK hynix Inc (KRX: 000660). 

Top-performing funds over 5 years

Whilst the top-performing funds list over 1 year makes for interesting reading, investing is a marathon, not a sprint, and 1-year performance is the equivalent of a 100 metre race. 

Below is the data for the top-performing global funds over the last five years. As you can see from the table below, the Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Fund is the only fund to appear in both the 1-year and 5-year lists.

As you can see from the numbers above, it's been a stellar few years for global equities, with the top funds comfortably averaging double-digit returns over five years. 

But FY26 proved to be even more exemplary. Will FY27 prove to be the same?