In February the average prudential balanced portfolio returned 2.56% (Jan: 1.69%). Top performer is Stanlib (3.59%); while EMH Prescient (1.22%) takes the bottom spot. For the 3 month period Investec takes top spot, for the fourth consecutive month, outperforming the ‘average’ by roughly 2.1%. On the other end of the scale Allan Gray underperformed the ‘average’, for the fourth consecutive month, by 1.8%.

I have started to read the book ‘Currency Wars’ by James Rickards. I did not get very far yet but the message is clear and frightening for me as an investor. It makes one realize how vulnerable the investor is, not to the market forces but really to the goings on behind the scenes – or is this just being naïve to believe that there is anything else but economic interests and power play using the political system to advance these interests. Hasn’t this been with human beings ever since they have been around on this globe? Currency wars are part of economic warfare, which in turn is part of asymmetric warfare where all warfare is aimed at control of resources.

The relevance to me as an investor is that I should understand what the strategies of the warring parties are to know how this will impact on investment markets and on my investment decisions, besides also taking cognisance of the impact of domestic, and more particularly the US domestic, economic necessities on these markets.

Of course we mortals will never be in the position of understanding and knowing. We can speculate and hope that we are right and have consequently taken the right decisions regarding the investment of our hard earned savings.