The Satrix MSCI World Equity Index Fund will change it's name to Satrix MSCI World Index Fund, effective from 13 March 2023

The Satrix MSCI World Equity Index Feeder Fund will change it's name to Satrix MSCI World Equity Index Fund, effective from 13 March 2023

The objective of the Satrix MSCI World Index Fund is to provide an investment vehicle for investors wishing to track the movement of the MSCI World Index by investing in securities of global companies which are primarily constituents of the MSCI World Index.

The portfolio will apart from assets in liquid form, invest in participatory interests of the Sanlam World Equity Tracker Fund established under the Sanlam Universal Funds PLC approved by the Irish Regulator in August 2011. The Sanlam World Equity Tracker Fund will employ replication, sampling and optimisation techniques and, subject to the limits and within the conditions laid down by the Central Bank of Ireland, may use financial derivative instruments for efficient portfolio management purposes to track the performance of the MSCI World Equity Index (Developed Markets), rather than attempting to hold all of the securities in the MSCI World Equity Index (DevelopedMarkets). The Sanlam World Equity Tracker Fund may also invest indirectly in such securities through quoted investment vehicles, such as Exchange Traded Funds, and holdings in UCITS funds domiciled in a Member State and other open-ended collective investment schemes that satisfy the requirements of the Central Bank of Ireland.

The last quarter of 2022 (Q4) was filled with surprises, with October and November posting strong positive returns to soften the blow suffered from the year’s high volatility. The US Federal Reserve (Fed) hinted on interest rate hikes cooling in upcoming meetings, which removed some of the uncertainties faced by investors and eased nervousness. US equities made robust gains in Q4, with much of the progress made in November.

There were also especially strong corporate earnings in certain sectors. Energy stocks posted especially strong gains, with sector heavyweights ExxonMobil and Chevron posting record profits in the quarter. Consumer discretionary was a notable exception, with Tesla’s decline and outsized influence.

The US market makes up almost 70% of the MSCI World Index and would be a large contributor to the positive return of the index over the quarter. On the other side of the world, China eased some of its lockdown restrictions which had led to many people in the country protesting, affecting the Asian markets negatively.

Together with inflation numbers easing to 7.1% for the US markets, stock markets rallied, but with December posting negative returns the rally was not enough to recover to positive returns for the year. After rising for most of October and November, the Japanese stock market declined in December. Nevertheless, the total return for Q4 remained positive. During November, most Japanese companies reported quarterly earnings for the July to September period.

This proved to be another strong set of results. Also, in Q4 the Bank of Japan decided to widen the band within which it has been maintaining 10-year bond yields. Although such a change had always been recognised by investors as a logical first step towards policy normalisation, the timing of the decision was a complete surprise.

The earlier than expected move by the central bank may also reflect a belief that Japan’s inflation rate is finally moving into a more sustainably positive range after decades of deflation. Eurozone shares notched up a strong advance during the quarter, outperforming other regions. Gains came more consistently from economically -sensitive areas like energy, financials, industrials and consumer discretionary.

UK equities also rose over the quarter, helped in part by the country emerging from its September crisis. Markets had been volatile in September as the former prime minister and chancellor announced huge fiscal stimulus, with little detail on how it would be funded.