The Russia/Ukraine crisis has compounded what was already shaky ground for global markets, with expectations of sustained inflation and higher interest rates. · Commodity and energy prices have risen strongly which has exacerbated supply side inflation risk and the risk of a future recession. · The impact on global markets has been varied and South African assets have held up relatively well. · The local currency has remained relatively stable. · SA equities have proven to be a relative safe haven for investors year-to-date, mostly due to our high resource exposure.

Source: Financial Express, PortfolioMetrix

• The PMX SA equity fund has benefitted from this through its positioning (generally overweight resources) and has outperformed its benchmark. The underlying managers that have provided excess returns are Fairtree, 36One and Ninety One.
• We also do not have any direct exposure to Russia in the portfolios. Our exposure to Emerging Europe has been explicitly “ex-Russia” and we have implemented this way since 2014.

However, the effects of the Russian invasion have been felt globally, and we have seen broader European markets (in particular) suffer. Performance YTD Although global equity markets are down -16%, the PMX multi-asset portfolios (PMX Reg 28) have fared far better with our highest risk portfolio down just over 4%.

Source: Financial Express, PortfolioMetrix

• The Russia/Ukraine crisis is a serious matter and poses numerous risks to investors.
• Under normal circumstances we do not propose directional bets, currently we think it is especially risky.
• The portfolios are well diversified and appropriately risked and we think this is the best way to navigate the current crisis