In September the average prudential balanced portfolio returned -0.39% (Aug: -0.83%). Top performer is Allan Gray (1.04%); while Momentum (-1.01%) takes the bottom spot. For the 3 month period Allan Gray takes top spot, outperforming the 'average' by roughly 3.5%. On the other end of the scale EMH Prescient underperformed the 'average' by 2.9%.

Don't lose perspective

With information technology having managed to create a network of information flow across the globe, it is commonly accepted that we all suffer from information overload. We are losing perspective and in consequence are exposed to making conclusions and decisions based on a distorted view of developments in global financial markets. Take the following graph:

It depicts the movement of a number of large global stock exchanges. It's a very busy graph despite only covering 6 stock exchanges. But at first sight it may lead one to identify 3 trends. Firstly on the downside, the Nikkei that has not moved anywhere over this period of over 20 years and secondly, on the upside, the JSE Allshare Index that was in a flying mode. But look at the next graph for perhaps a bit more perspective.

Here we have only the Allshare measured against the US S&P 500 that is in the middle of the crowd in the top graph.

Read part 6 of the Benchtest 09.2015 newsletter to find out what our investment views are.