The Investec Managed Fund Namibia follows the house-view asset allocation, within the constraints of pension fund prudential requirements, and a minimum investment of 35% in Namibian assets.

During September, the strengthening of the Rand negatively influenced the prices of especially Rand-hedged stocks. Although September dragged down the performances of both the JSE & NSX, the positive returns achieved in July and August were strong enough such that both equity markets turned out to be bullish during 3Q03. For the quarter under review, the JSE All Share Index did 7.9%, while the NSX Overall returned 5.2% and the NSX Local 1.7%.

The Investec Managed Fund Namibia maintained an overweight stance in Financials and had a relatively large exposure to Banks and Mining Finance. Banks (-2.3%) underperformed both the JSE and NSX during 3Q03, while Mining Finance (6.8%) underperformed the JSE but outperformed the NSX.

The fund also had an exposure of around 20% to bonds and a 20% exposure to cash. After International, bonds were the weakest performer of all asset classes during 3Q03 (2.7%), while returns on cash were 3.6% for the quarter. The about 15% exposure to offshore was also negatively affected by the 7% strengthening of the Rand since July 2003.

Considering the fact that the stronger Rand did not help the international portion of the portfolio, as well as the fact that the fund is heavily invested in financials, a return of 3.2% for the quarter ended 30 September 2003 should be considered outstanding.

The strengthening of the Rand/N$ over the last few months and the consequent lower inflation rates, led to lower interest rates in 2003. Against this backdrop, one should increase the fund's exposure to the Industrial and Financial sector. As we are already overweight in both these sectors, we will continue to favour Financials and Industrials.

The Investec Managed Fund Namibia follows the houseview asset allocation, within the constraints of pension fund prudential requirements, and a minimum investment of 35% in Namibian assets.

Global equity markets turned out to be very bearish during most of 1Q03. The local financial markets followed suit and posted negative returns for each of the three months of 1Q03. The JSE All Share Index did -16.3% for the quarter, while the NSX overall returned -12.6% for the quarter. The leading negative performer for 1Q03 was Cyclical Consumer Goods (-33.9%), followed by IT (-29.4%) and Non-Cyclical Consumer Goods (-17.3%).

The Investec Managed Fund Namibia maintained an overweight stance in Financials, and had a relatively large exposure to Banks and Mining. Banks (-10.3%) and Mining (-10.38%) both outperformed the JSE ALSI and the NSX respectively.

In the Namibian leg of the portfolio, where the Resource Sector (Anglo American Plc accounts for nearly 50% of the NSX market capitalization) and the Financial Sector (more than 30% of the NSX market capitalisation) dominate, a substantial restructuring was done. A new benchmark portfolio, based on the FTSE free float 10,9,8,7,6 methodology was implemented during 1Q03. The purpose of the restructuring was to create a more diversified portfolio and to ensure that medium and small capitalisation shares are included. As a result, Anglo American was down-weighted and Industrial shares were upweighted.

The fund also had around 20% exposure to bonds, and a 20% exposure to cash. Bonds did well over 1Q03 (4.8%), while returns on Cash were 3.4% for the quarter.

Against this background, the Investec Managed Fund Namibia posed a return of -8.0% for the quarter ended 31 March 2003.

The strengthening of the Rand/N$ over the last few months, and consequent lower expected inflation rates, should lead to lower interest rates in 2003. Against this background, one should increase the fund's exposure to the Industrial and Financial sector. As we are overweight in both these sectors, we will continue to favour Financials and Industrials.

The Investec Namibia Managed Fund follows the houseview asset allocation, within the constraints of pension fund prudential requirements, with a minimum investment of 35% in Namibian assets.

Global equity markets were extremely volatile during most of 2002. The local financial markets followed suite, and return struggled for both 4Q02 and for the year 2002. The JSE All Share Index was down -1.4% for the quarter and -8.2% for the year 2002, while the NSX overall returned 1.9% for the quarter and -20.0% for the year.

The weak local performance for 4Q02 was led by Non-Cyclical Consumer goods (-6.9%), followed by Resources (-6.7%) and Cyclical Consumer Goods (2.7%). The leading negative performer for the year was IT (-64.7%) followed by Cyclical Consumer Goods (-25.2%) and Non-Cyclical Consumer Goods (-9.7%).

The Investec Namibia Managed Fund maintained an overweight stance in Financials and had a relatively large exposure to Banks and Mining Materials. Banks (up 9.5% for 4Q02 and -2.4% for Y2002) outperformed both the JSE and the NSX. Resources on the other hand, underperformed for the quarter (-6.7%) and were down for the year (-8.0%).

The fund retained substantial exposure to the Resource and Financial Sector as the Resource sector accounts for nearly 60% of the NSX market capitalization, and the Financial Sector more than 30% of the NSX market capitalisation.

The fund also had around 20% exposure to bonds and 20% to cash. Bonds did well over 4Q02 (7.6%) and for the Y2002 (16.0%). Returns on cash were 3.2% for the quarter and 11.5% for the year.

The strengthening of the Rand/N$ during 2002 and consequent lower inflation rates, should lead to lower interest rates in 2003. Against this backdrop, exposure to the Industrial and Financial sectors is favorable. The fund continues to be overweight in both these sectors.