The Marriott Money Market Fund has its primary objective to maximise interest income while preserving capital and providing immediate liquidity through investments in high quality money market instruments denominated in South African Rands. The fund is a money market investment with competitive yields, low management fees and maximum security of capital. Although the mandate does not prescribe it, the portfolio is managed in conformity with prudential investment guidelines.

Consumer price inflation moderated to 3.6% year on year in November, its lowest rate since February 2011. The lower rate of inflation was underpinned by a further deceleration in the transport component of the inflation basket, which moved into deflationary territory, with a reading of -0.3% year on year from 0.3% year on year in October. Looking ahead, the medium term inflation outlook is expected to remain subdued given a backdrop of low global inflation, weak domestic demand, and slowing wage growth.

At its sixth and final meeting of 2019, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank decided to keep the repo policy interest rate unchanged at 6.5% citing risks to the inflation outlook as “balanced. The MPC reinforced its stance that monetary policy will continue to focus on anchoring inflation expectations near the mid-point of the inflation target range in the interest of sustainable economic growth, with policy decisions remaining highly data dependent. Looking ahead, the risk of a ratings downgrade by Moody’s remains high as fiscal metrics continue to deteriorate whilst GDP growth remains subdued. Given this and the risk of a weaker currency to the inflation outlook, we anticipate the MPC to retain a cautious policy stance and for the interest rate cutting cycle to be shallow.

The fund is only invested in the five major banking institutions and shorter dated SA government treasury bills, ensuring the lowest possible risk for our investors.