The Anchor BCI Worldwide Flexible Fund achieved a 21.9% return over the past 12
months, and an annualised return of 11.3% over the period since its incep..on in mid-May
2013. This compares with the benchmark return of 7.6% and 9.0%, respec..vely. The fund’
s performance over the past 12 months can also be compared against the S&P 500 and the
FTSE All World indices, which were up 27.8% and 23.6%, respec..vely, both in rand terms.
We began to take a more defensive stance in late 4Q19, by trimming holdings in various US
financial companies including Synchrony Financial, Wells Fargo, US Bancorp and JP
Morgan. No shares were bought during the quarter. This shi.. to a more defensive mindset
followed a very strong performance from US equi..es in 2019 – the strongest since 2013.
As a result, equity content ended the year at 85%, down from 93.3% at 30 September
2019. Exposure to emerging markets (EMs) decreased slightly to 7.7%, while overall
exposure to EMs including equi..es, bonds, cash and currency hedges, was unchanged at
29.5%.