The current world crises continued into 2009 and although we experienced a recovery in January, on February 10 the equity markets commenced another downturn. From 3 March to 31 August 2009, the JSE (as measured by the Alsi 40 Index) increased in value by an amazing 37% (excluding dividends) in tandem with international equity markets. During the violent downswing since October 2007 a broad range of South African equities have become relatively cheap but the markets are currently experiencing an encouraging resurrection from its depressing lows of early March. The present expectation of more interest rate reductions during 2009 along with a recovery in international markets raise the expectations for a bountiful 2010. The fund remains fully invested.

Charles Snyman is the portfolio manager from 1 September 2008.

The fund performance is summarized in the table below. Although the fund is classified in the Asset Allocation Variable Equity sector, the fund has been fully invested in equities over the last three years. This is clear from the comparison below which shows that the fund did not perform significantly different from the benchmark (75%Alsi 40 and 25% SA repo rate) over the three year period to end September 2009.

The current world crises continued into 2009 and although we experienced a recovery in January, on February 10 the equity markets commenced another downturn. From 3 March to 2 June 2009, the JSE (as measured by the Alsi 40 Index) increased in value by an amazing 32.3%, still in sympathy and in tandem with international equity markets. Since early June the market has declined by almost 10% also in resonance with world markets. During the last nine months a broad range of South African equities have become relatively cheap but the markets are currently experiencing an encouraging resurrection from its depressing lows of early March. The present expectation of more interest rate reductions during 2009 along with a recovery in international markets raise the expectations for a bountiful year ahead. The fund remains fully invested.

Charles Snyman is the portfolio manager from 1 September 2008.

The fund performance is summarized in the table below. Although the fund is classified in the Asset Allocation Variable Equity sector, the fund has been fully invested in equities over the last three years. This is clear from the comparison below which shows that the fund did not perform significantly different from the benchmark (75%Alsi 40 and 25% cash properly reinvested) over the three year period to end March 2009.

The current world crises continued into 2009 and although we experienced a recovery in January, on February 10 the equity markets commenced another downturn. From 1 March 2009 the JSE (as measured by the Alsi 40 Index) increased in value by almost 12%, still in sympathy and tandem with international equity markets. The benchmark (75% Alsi 40 plus 25% cash, both reinvested) was reduced by 7.7%. Right now a broad range of South African equities have become relatively cheap and the general expectation of interest rate reductions during 2009 raises the hopes for a bountiful year. The fund is fully invested.

Charles Snyman is the portfolio manager from 1 September 2008.

The fund performance is summarized in the table below. Although the fund is classified in the Asset Allocation Variable Equity sector, the fund has been fully invested in equities over the last three years. This is clear from the comparison below which shows that the fund did not perform significantly different from the benchmark (75%Alsi 40 and 25% cash properly reinvested) over the three year period to end March 2009.

During December the equity market as measured by the Alsi 40 Index increased from 18334 to 19444 or just over 6%. A comparable benchmark (75% invested plus dividends, and interests and less fees) increased by 4.8% while the fund increased a little less at 3.1%. Reducing resource exposure and increasing exposure to both property and industrials have reduced the volatility of the fund over approximately two months. International and South African equities of a broad description have become quite cheap and the general expectation of interest rate reductions during 2009 raises the hopes for a bountiful year. The fund is fully invested. The TER (Total Expense Ratio) of the fund is 1.8%.

Charles Snyman is now the portfolio manager as from 1 September 2008.