Sagicor Funds Reports: Strong Returns For Year-To-Date 2023 -Part I

?By Nicholas Neckles

Portfolio Manager

Sagicor Asset Management Inc

Despite ongoing challenges affecting the global financial markets, there are several positive signs for investors looking for sustainable returns.

Sagicor’s Segregated Funds and Mutual Funds offer prime opportunities for new investors to start their investment journey, and more experienced investors to expand their portfolios strategically. Supported by our team of portfolio managers, investors can navigate the instability of the current financial landscape. From its October 2022 low, the MSCI All Country World Index, an international equities gauge, surged to above 20%, entering a bull market. Technology giants drove the relentless rally over the hype surrounding AI, and the US Federal Reserve, signalling it may be close to the end of one of its most aggressive interest rate hiking campaigns in decades. ?

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SEGREGATED FUNDS

For those entities looking for a professionally managed corporate pension plan, Sagicor’s Barbados Segregated Pension Funds present a great opportunity to accumulate long term wealth. These Funds allow you to pool your money with other investors for the sole benefit of the unit holders of the Fund. The Segregated Funds which are comprised of the Sagicor (Equity) Funds, feature a diverse set of assets not limited to, stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Alternative Investments, Bonds, domestic real estate, mortgages and money market instruments, spread across multiple jurisdictions and industries.

The Sagicor (Equity) Fund and Sagicor (Bonds) Fund are also tailor-made for corporate and other institutional investors seeking appreciation and preservation of their capital over long term.?Investors will benefit from professional management and investment services.

We encourage investors to take a look at our recent investment commentary to observe the performance and outlook of the Fund and the opportunities they present.

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The Sagicor (Equity) Fund

The Sagicor (Equity) Fund reported robust year-to-date returns of 4.9% due to the Fund’s international equity portfolio reflecting resiliency and buoyancy, supported by global financial markets performance, despite some lagging underlying market risks. The Fund’s weightings to technology stocks provided strong attribution to the portfolio, contrary to the prior year when these stocks were oversold by investors which impacted the Fund’s 2022 performance. The Fund is exposed to a broad range of equities providing adequate diversification and protection for rainy days and remains well positioned to withstand any further volatility in markets. This Fund continues to reward its shareholders with an annualized compounded growth rate of 7.5% from inception.

The Sagicor (Bonds) Fund

This Fund is well suited to institutional groups who share a relatively low risk tolerance. to the Fund aims to achieve consistent long-term returns primarily from its investment in a diverse mix of local, regional and international sovereign and corporate bonds. It is further diversified through its domestic mortgage holdings, regional and international equities, and term deposits.

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This Fund has historically performed well for investors with a long-term annual compounded growth return of around 7% since the Fund’s inception. The Fund continues to steadily perform in line with its investment strategy and policy whereby it adequately preserved capital for its shareholders in a highly volatile period, such as the year 2022, and yet achieved consistent returns when tailwinds support fixed income markets, as seen in the first half of 2023. The fund is up 2.1% year-to-date and the investment management team remains assertive in appropriately deploying excess cash to attractively priced instruments with the aim the further augmenting portfolio performance.

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Coming up next, we look at the performance of mutual funds. Are you ready to start investing? Email Nicholas at [email protected] to learn more.

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