Anchor MET Equity comment - Sep 14 - Fund Manager Comment28 Nov 2014
Following a couple of strong months of equity returns globally, September proved much tougher with most indices around the world coming under significant pressure. The MSCI World Index sank by 2.9% during the month, emerging markets were harder hit down by 7.6% and the JSE SWIX index declined by 2.4%, cushioned by the 5.5% decline in the Rand for the month.
In this context, the fund did well to protect capital during the month, with the 0.3% decline comparing very well with the broad declines on the JSE. For the year to date, the fund has now delivered a 10.1% return which compares to 8.3% for the mean of the general equity fund universe. Over twelve months, the fund has delivered a 20.4% gain versus 13.9% for the peer group and 18% for the benchmark.
Some of the key gainers which assisted the fund to protect capital during this month included:
o Steinhoff +3% (the fund has a 10% weighting to this stock)
o Aspen Pharma +10% (close to 5% weight)
o Grand Parade Investments +18% (4.5% current weight)
o AVI Limited +14.6% (3.5% portfolio weight)
o Our underweight resource position
Our reading is that the key issues concerning investors globally are 1) does the improvement in US economic conditions mean a tightening of interest rates sooner than expected, potentially placing pressure on risky assets?; 2) a roll-over in economic activity in Europe and 3) a slowing Chinese economy, more specifically in resource-intensive activities. The net effect of the above does bode well for emerging market economies that run deficits on their current accounts, are exporters of commodities (given declining terms of trade) and depend on foreign capital flows to support currencies and consumption expenditure. South Africa fits squarely into this category, and we remain negative on the outlook for the domestic economy.
Management Company Switched - Official Announcement01 Jul 2014
The fund switched Management Company from MET Collective Investments Ltd. to Boutique Collective Investments (Pty) Ltd. on 01 Jul 2014
Fund Name Change - Official Announcement01 Jul 2014
The Anchor MET Equity Fund will change it's name to Anchor BCI Equity Fund, effective from 01 July 2014
Mandate Overview01 Jul 2014
The Anchor BCI Equity Fund is a general equity portfolio that seeks to sustain high long-term capital growth.