Global events were very suppor..ve of risk assets over December, with the rand strengthening by 4.1% against the US dollar. Naturally this acted as a significant headwind to the por..olio, which holds predominantly US dollar-denominated assets. The increased por..olio yield (which is above 6% in US dollar terms) and the currency hedges that we hold were enough to largely insulate the por..olio from the impact of a stronger rand.

Looking ahead, we are quite excited about the prospect of this asset class with the yields looking fair and the likelihood of rand weakness in 2020.