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Category:
Insurance News /
Investments /
GCI / August 2009
Local
Fund
Manager Comes Out Tops As Market Bottoms Out
While market
chaos has left many investors scrambling to salvage what is left of
their portfolios, one fund manager has remained resolute in its
investment strategy, coming out as the top performer in two sectors.
The current
bear market has resulted in a major shift in the global markets and
as this shift takes place, it is those fund managers that have kept
a cautious eye on downside risks that are reaping the benefits.
GCI, a South
African fund manager whose Stop Loss strategy has seen consistent
returns for investors, outperformed top contenders in their sectors,
ranking 1st out of 34 funds in the Prudential Variable Equity Sector
with a return of 73% (14.98% per annum) from the GCI Balanced fund's
inception in September 2005 to March 2009, and 2nd in the Flexible
Fund sector at 76% (15.31% per annum) since that fund's inception in
August 2005.
Over the past
two years to date, the firm's Balanced Fund has also been number one
in its sector with returns of 17.08%, an excellent record
considering the global recession and record levels of market
volatility. Returns from the ten next best performers in the sector
were on average 11.47%. This sector includes the likes of
Allan Gray Balanced and Coronation Balanced, highlighting the
outstanding performance of the GCI fund for the period.
Showing
consistent returns over the same two-year period, GCI's Flexible
Fund offered up 16.41% return whereas the JSE Africa Allshare showed
a decline of 8.84%.
The investment
firm's strategy has ensured long-term returns for its investors.
In this volatile market environment, GCI has reacted by taking
measured risk, keeping a vigilant eye on the market flux and
exercising caution about when they enter the market and how much
they commit to ensure the best gain for each investment.
GCI Fund
manager Alex Cook suggests that the rand is considerably vulnerable
at current levels. The JSE All Share has seen a rally of 38%
since March this year. With share prices rising and earnings
falling, the investment firm believes another market correction is
still likely.
The firm
continues to invest without bias. Cook explains, "We only buy
in at prices where we feel sustainable growth is likely and are
happy to exit any investment that is threatening our clients'
wealth."
"What's as
important as performance is low volatility," Cook continues. "Our
clients prefer more stability and for this reason, we adopt the GCI
Stop Loss strategy to ensure that we limit the loss or risk if stock
markets fall apart. We therefore measure our success by
performance and by how well we mange market declines. The
result of implementing our philosophy is better performance coupled
with low risk and we therefore fit our goal of being a complete
managed solution for investments," he closes.
About GCI
GCI is a South
African based fund manager with approximately R500m under
management. They manage (actually three but I don't want to
speak about the other one just yet) two unique funds, the GCI
Balanced Fund and the GCI Flexible fund. Both have ranked in
the 1st quartile since their inception in September and August 2005
respectively. GCI funds are offered through Sanlam Glacier,
Old Mutual Galaxy, Momentum Wealth, Equinox and Metropolitan.
More information can be found at
www.gci.co.za
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