Macquarie Core Australian Equity Active ETF
Performance
Total return to 23 Oct 2026, distributions reinvested, before franking. ASX figures are to 30 Sept 2026 and gross of franking, so they run higher for franked Australian funds.
What it costs to hold
Management fee plus trading costs, compared with similar funds.
A typical fund among Australian equity funds would cost $187 (0.37% a year), so MQAE is $160 cheaper.
Spread is the average gap between buying and selling prices on the ASX. Fees are shown on a flat balance, not compounded on growth. Excludes tax and any adviser or platform fees.
Calendar-year returns
Where the money is
The issuer does not publish machine-readable holdings for this fund, so exposures and holdings overlap are not available. Return correlations still are.
Monthly returns
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.5 | 3.3 | −8.3 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 1.4 | −1.7 | −0.7 | 1.8YTD | ||
| 2025 | 4.6 | −4.3 | −3.1 | 2.8 | 5.3 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 3.5 | −0.4 | 0.3 | −2.4 | 1.3 | 11.1 |
| 2024 | 4.1 | 0.9 | 3.8 | −0.8 | 3.9 | −2.7 | 9.1 |
Total return each month in %, distributions reinvested, before franking. The latest month runs to the last price date. The first year starts from listing.
Most similar funds
Overlap is the share of the portfolio held in common, look-through. Correlation is of daily returns. High overlap means close substitutes.
MQAE questions answered
Written from the latest data on this page. General information only, not financial advice.
How diversified is Macquarie Core Australian Equity Active ETF?
The issuer of Macquarie Core Australian Equity Active ETF doesn't publish its holdings in a form we can read, so we can't measure how diversified it is. It is classed as equity with a Australia focus; the product disclosure statement (PDS) and the issuer's fact sheet list what it owns.
Which ETFs does MQAE double up with most?
We can't compare holdings for MQAE, as the issuer doesn't publish them in a form we can read, but its returns move most closely with Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200) (correlation 0.93), iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (IOZ) (correlation 0.93) and Betashares Geared Australian Equities Complex ETF (GEAR) (correlation 0.93). A correlation near 1 means the two funds tend to rise and fall together, so holding both adds little diversification.
How is Macquarie Core Australian Equity Active ETF managed – active or passive?
Macquarie Core Australian Equity Active ETF is actively managed. Rather than tracking an index, a fund manager at Macquarie decides what to buy and sell, aiming to do better than the market after fees.
Among Australian equity funds, active funds charge a median 0.85% a year and index funds 0.34%.
What will I pay in fees for MQAE?
MQAE charges a management fee of 0.03% a year, about $3 for every $10,000 invested. That is cheaper than 99% of the 471 ASX ETFs we track, where the median fee is 0.44%. Among Australian equity funds, the median is 0.35%.
It is the cheapest of the 35 broad Australian equity funds we track.
The fee is taken from the fund's assets and is already reflected in its returns. You'll also pay brokerage when you buy or sell, and the bid-ask spread, which has averaged 0.12% for MQAE.
Does Macquarie Core Australian Equity Active ETF follow a theme?
No. Macquarie Core Australian Equity Active ETF is a broad equity fund: it aims to cover a wide slice of its market (Australia) rather than one theme or sector.
What is under the hood of MQAE?
The issuer doesn't publish MQAE's holdings in a form we can read. Its website and fact sheet list the full portfolio.
As an active fund it has no index rule: the manager decides which investments to hold and how much of each, within the limits set out in the PDS.
How well has Macquarie Core Australian Equity Active ETF performed?
Based on its category, Macquarie Core Australian Equity Active ETF aims to grow your capital faster than its market after fees.
To 23 Oct 2026, with distributions reinvested, it returned −0.9% over 1 year (median 0.6%; ranked 39 of 65). The medians and rankings compare it with Australian equity funds. Since listing in 2024 it has returned 9.6% a year.
As an active fund, MQAE has no index to track. The fairer test is whether it beats similar funds and its market after fees, over several years.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.