The South African All Bond Index (ALBI) gained an impressive 1.86% during the month of December, lead in part by the R186 and R2030 bond yields ..ghtening by 20 and 18.5 bps respec..vely. Local equi..es, represented by the Top 40 total return also had a good month, returning 3.64% for investors. STEFI returned 60 basis points (bps) for the month.

The Fairtree Albi Plus Prescient Fund gained 1.81% during the month, underperforming its benchmark by 5 bps. December marked the end of a good year for both South African bonds and the Albi Plus Fund. The ALBI returned a total of 10.32% during 2019, while the Albi Plus Fund outperformed by 1.07% (in line with its mandated aim of 1% outperformance per year) and returned a total of 11.39%. Both the ALBI and the Albi Plus Fund solidly outperformed STEFI’s 7.29% yearly performance.

Looking forward, we con..nue to focus on replica..ng the interest rate characteris..cs of the ALBI benchmark whilst addi..onally searching for credit opportuni..es.