09 March 2020 View all posts

Global Strategy Fund: March 2020

The Ashburton Global Strategy Fund provides the FNB Advisory Wealth Solutions (CATII) with its offshore exposure and reflects the current macroeconomic house view of Ashburton
Risk assets sold off sharply in the latter part of February 2020 as fears about the Covid-19 virus spreading outside of China took hold. Global equity markets ended more than 8% in the red, although emerging markets fared slightly better. Core government bond yields fell to new lows and even commodity prices retracted as market participants fear declining global demand as a result of the spreading virus. The FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Real Estate Index returned -7.5% for the month
The Ashburton Global Strategy Fund returned -0.91% (provisional, after fees) for the month in USD terms, bringing the 12-month performance to 5.13% and the annualised three year performance to 5.17%. Please note that Fund prices are weekly, which has had an impact, given the volatility in equity market returns over the last few trading days in February
No changes were made during February to the tactical asset allocation of the Fund. There were also no changes made to the underlying managers, with their performances for the month in line with expectations.