In February 2024, the average prudential balanced portfolio returned 0.7% (January 2024: -0.2%). The top performer is Namibia Coronation Balanced Plus Fund, with 1.8%, while Lebala Balance Fund, with -0.3%, takes the bottom spot. Namibia Coronation Capital Plus Fund takes the top spot for the three months, outperforming the ‘average’ by roughly 1.8%. Ninety One Namibia Managed Fund underperformed the ‘average’ by 1.6% on the other end of the scale. Note that these returns are before (gross of) asset management fees
The Monthly Review of Portfolio Performance to 29 February 2024 reviews portfolio performances and provides insightful analyses.
The band keeps playing while the Titanic is sinking
Watching the situation in and around Ukraine and listening to US and Western media, I perceive the US wanting to rid itself of any further financial commitments to the Ukraine war and to put the Europeans in front of that cart. It seems the US wants to push the Europeans into a major confrontation with Russia, and be ‘the laughing third’. Both sides will be badly bruised militarily and economically. Russia already stated that it will use its nuclear arsenal if its national survival is threatened. The European media are on a mission to prepare their citizens for a war against Russia, and too often in history, such war propaganda has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In such a prospective conflict, China cannot sit on the sideline as NATO would advance to its border should Russia lose. We will inevitably have World War III! Investment markets will take a severe knock during such a conflict and remain in the doldrums. Once the conflict ends, the world will move to a new economic order, likely multipolar, unless the West prevails. Investment will not be what it has been since the Second World War. In the run-up to such a war, only very few investment managers will take bold action in preparation for the great conflict. The action will, in most cases, also be too late. I perceive that we are sailing into troubled waters, but the band keep playing while the Titanic is sinking!
In the Monthly Review of Portfolio Performance to 29 February 2024, we elaborate on the strategies an investor should follow under the above circumstances. It also reflects the editor’s views on current developments and their impact on investment markets.