Summary
• Developed market equities ended the month in the green, as markets recovered from data indicating that the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, is less severe than previous strains. All the global equity sub-sectors posted positive returns. The best performing sectors were Consumer Staples, Utilities and Health Care returning 8.3%, 7.4% and 6.6% respectively. Global equities, as measured by the FTSE All-World Total Return Index returned 4.2% for December.
• For Q4 2021, growth stocks outperformed value stocks, however over a 1-year period, value stocks outperformed growth stocks.
• It was another bumpy and negative month for global bonds, which continued to come under pressure since the start of the year, with government bonds (as measured by The FTSE WorldBIG Index), ending the month -0.3%.
• The Ashburton Global Strategy Fund priced for December, returned -0.05% between 24 November 2021 and 29 December 2021.
• Global property had a particularly strong month, and the AB Global Real Estates Securities Fund returned 6.4% for December.
• From the three main equity managers, the core equity manager, Epoch was the best performer returning 7.5% for the month, while the deep value manager, Lyrical also outperformed the index and returned 6.2% over the same period.
• Mundane World Leaders Fund underperformed the benchmark for the month returning 3.7%.
• The bond exposure via the Colchester Global Bond Fund had a positive return for December of 0.1%, outperforming The FTSE WorldBIG Index.
• The small exposure to China via the Cederberg Greater China Fund had another negative month, returning -4.4% for the month.
• The Ashburton Global Strategy Fund reflects the macroeconomic house view of Ashburton Investments and post the implementation of the new Strategic Asset Allocation in January 2021. There have been no changes made from a tactical asset allocation perspective.