The Fund has achieved a return of 25.1% in the period since inception in mid-May 2013, and 16.2% over the past year. This is ahead of the benchmark return of 14.2% and 10.8% respectively. These returns have however lagged the performances of the FTSE All World Index (in Rands) of 35.4% and 22.8% respectively, and the S&P 500 Index (in Rands) of 46% and 32.0% respectively. Not being fully invested in equities from day 1 has hurt our performance. But this is becoming less relevant as time passes and the Fund's equity content draws closer to a target of say 65% in global equities. This target largely reflects the view that current US equity market valuations are not that appealing. The Fund closed the period at 53.4% in equities.

No new holdings were added to the portfolio in the latest quarter. We did however increase the size of several existing holdings. We also transferred money offshore at an average rate of R10.61/$ to reduce the Rand content of the Fund. Note that all the offshore cash is invested in US dollars. The Fund, therefore, has no direct exposure to the Euro, a currency that has devalued by 9.3% against the US dollar since May 2014, finally reflecting the diverging fortunes of the Eurozone versus the US.

Bold economic reforms underway in Mexico, and heightened expectation of long overdue reforms for India, are instructive for South Africa if we are also going to tackle our own economic problems - high unemployment and weak exports. The new era of lower commodity prices (for example, the FT speaks of the "End of the Iron Age") makes it all the more pressing that we too show courage and implement the tough reforms required to ensure a more prosperous long-term future for the country.

The top performing investments over the past year have been Google (+34.2% in US Dollars), Wells Fargo (+25.5%) and JP Morgan (+16.5%).

The Fund has achieved a return of 22.1% in the period since inception in mid-May 2013, and 14.2% over the past year. This is ahead of the benchmark return of 11.4% and 11.0% respectively. These returns have however lagged the performances of the FTSE All World Index (in Rands) of 31.3% and 29.8% respectively, and the S&P 500 Index (in Rands) of 36.8% and 31.4% respectively. Not being fully invested in equities from day 1 has hurt our performance over this relatively short period, but we aim to perform better than these benchmarks over longer time periods. The Fund's exposure to offshore equities continues to grow, closing the quarter at 58.2%.

Verizon Communications, the largest cellular operator in the US, was added to the portfolio in the latest quarter. Verizon is ideally positioned for the continued growth in the US mobile data market as internet usage increasingly shifts to mobile devices. Structurally the US cellular industry has enormous scale coupled with very affordable pricing in both voice and data services, which points to a stable, higher quality telecom industry. Other changes to the portfolio included converting more Rands to US Dollars at R9.50/$ as well as buying more shares in some existing holdings.

US stock markets continue their unusually steady rise, with no correction (ie down 10%) on the S&P 500 Index since the 3rd quarter of 2011. This is despite limited revenue growth from US corporates; profit margins that are at record high levels; and above average price earnings multiples. Although this bull market may not be displaying the so-called typical signs of a bubble set to burst (as if we can predict it!), which means that it may continue to go up for a while longer as investors remain stumped for better alternatives, all the data points to low returns from US stock markets over the medium term. Fortunately a few other markets, notably in Asia, are priced more favourably.

With this note of caution, the Fund's equity content is likely to continue to rise but we will retain a large cash position in the Fund to take advantage of opportunities when more favourable conditions return. We would expect the Fund to perform relatively well in a tough market.

The Anchor BCI Worldwide Flexible Fund aims to provide investors with a moderate to high long term total return by way of a worldwide flexible portfolio actively investing across different asset classes.

The fund switched Management Company from MET Collective Investments Ltd. to Boutique Collective Investments (Pty) Ltd. on 01 Jul 2014

The Anchor MET Worldwide Flexible Fund will change it's name to Anchor BCI Worldwide Flexible Fund, effective from 01 July 2014