July was another positive month for South African Investors from a return perspective. SA equity continued to recover from its Q1 losses, returning between 2.4% and 3.0% (depending on the index used). However, this was solely driven by resource companies which returned 9%, Financials were essentially flat 0.4%, whilst Industrials lost -1.3%. Globally, markets also performed well, in rand terms the MSCI AC World returned 3.2% in July. SA property was the only detracting asset class, losing -3.2%, this does however come off a stellar June when the SAPY index gained 13.4%. Markets across the world are now near or above their pre-COVID-19 market crisis levels. The strength and speed of the recovery from the lows reached in March is leading to other questions and concerns. Are markets facing burn-out and are the risks appropriately assessed given the murky outlook? Sticking to a well-crafted financial plan underpinned by a robust portfolio construction process is paramount in times like this.

Source: PortfolioMetrix

SA PROFILE PERFORMANCE – June 2020