Articles tagged as "Allan Gray Balanced Fund"
Consumer staples: Should they be portfolio staples?
Everyone is familiar with consumer staples – e.g. groceries, beverages, home and personal care items – and many have a strong affinity for the underlying...
How we balance the upside-downside risk in South African equities
We often write about large individual equity positions in our portfolios, but this quarter, Duncan Artus focuses on the opportunities and risks in “SA Inc” –...
Two-pot: Enabling better retirements – for those who avoid the risks
The two-pot retirement system, which is set to be implemented on 1 September 2024, has been designed to improve retirement outcomes for South Africans by...
Navigating investment challenges: The interplay between skill and luck
Decision strategist and best-selling author Annie Duke advises focusing on a good process when trying to make the best decisions in highly uncertain scenario...
The power of perspective in an election year
Many local investors are understandably worried about what the future holds and how the election may affect their wealth. Keeping perspective throughout your...
2024: What will the election year hold?
From macroeconomic decisions to political outcomes, markets – and sentiment – can be temporarily influenced by various external factors. If 2023 will be...
The key lesson from 2023: Uncertainty is ever-present
Rory Kutisker-Jacobson takes stock of the key local and global market events of 2023 and highlights some of the themes that are likely to shape the year ahea...
Investing for education in an inflationary environment
Parents can expect little relief in 2024, with reports suggesting that fee hikes for South African schools will yet again come in above general inflation,...
Local investment update: Balancing caution and optimism
In recent years, South Africa’s numerous, well-known economic challenges have fuelled declining investor sentiment and led many to doubt the local market’s...
Principles for successful investing from the world of sport
Nothing quite unites South Africans like a good sporting event. During the months of July and August, South African sports fans were spoiled for choice as tw...
Risk: An essential ingredient for real long-term returns
When it comes to investing, no investor wants to lose money. In fact, as humans, we have a built-in aversion to loss. Unfortunately, by overly focusing on...
Are we entering a global stockpicker’s paradise?
In conversation with portfolio manager Rory Kutisker-Jacobson, Matthew Spencer from our offshore partner, Orbis, explains why the Investment team believes th...
How staying the course gives you the long-term edge
In a world where instant gratification is king, it can be hard not to get distracted by the lure of short-term gains. But taking a long-term view of your...
The power of 1%
As we celebrate our 50 th anniversary, we are mindful of the collective efforts of teams, past and present, in building our long-term track record....
Why South Africa is still attractive for investors
In conversation with portfolio manager Tim Acker, investment analysts Siphesihle Zwane and Jithen Pillay discuss the impact of the major local challenges on...
Four contrarian investment questions to ask in 2023
Jacques Plaut, portfolio manager, shares the four questions investors should consider this year and discusses how the Allan Gray Balanced Fund is positioned ...
The evolving role of balanced funds
Tamryn Lamb looks at the important role balanced funds have played in your portfolio over time, the returns they have generated and the variability of these...
Was 2022 a secular turning point and if so, what does it mean for the years ahead?
In his first investment update of 2023, Duncan Artus discusses the current investment context and how it differs from the past, shares a review of 2022 and...
Business update: The role of balanced funds
This year has seen a number of meaningful changes for investors, including the introduction of higher offshore limits. At the recent Allan Gray and Orbis...
Investing – risky business?
Understanding your investments, and the risks you may face when investing, can go a long way towards helping you successfully navigate trying times. Lydia...
How do you cater for extreme events when constructing resilient multi-asset portfolios?
Gladness Rupare and Martine Damonse, who hosted panels with members of the Allan Gray and Orbis Investment teams, capture some of key questions and insights,...
Local investment update: Always pay the right price
Jacques Plaut and Duncan Artus discuss the positioning of our equity and multi-asset funds given the pre-existing trends exacerbated by the war in Ukraine....
How to invest to be crisis ready
COVID-19 has driven home an important life lesson: Expect (and plan for) the unexpected. When it comes to your finances, this means balancing the need to hav...
Understanding the impact of the Ukraine crisis on your investments
Like everyone else, we have been watching with dismay as the war in Ukraine unfolds. While in this piece we address some of the economic and investment...
Preparing for more uncertainty and volatility
A look back over the last two years reveals how difficult forecasting is. Even with perfect foresight of the pandemic context, one would not have been able t...
How to apply “cathedral thinking” in your investment approach
The prolonged stress of the pandemic has heightened many investors’ focus on the now, interfering with the ability to make sound decisions that improve the...
How to invest for the possibility of higher inflation and interest rates
The probability that the world is moving into an environment of higher inflation is increasing. An inflationary environment requires investors to think...
How we approach fixed interest
Aside from our dedicated local fixed interest funds, being the Allan Gray Money Market Fund and the Allan Gray Bond Fund, we also invest in fixed interest...
Investment update: Is it time to reduce SA share exposure?
The FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) is now significantly higher than it was before the pandemic – 21% up from the start of 2020. Is this a sign that it is ti...
In pursuit of value
The current disparity in markets, both locally and offshore, is creating an opportunity for bottom-up investors like ourselves to generate meaningful returns...
Woolworths: Not so down under
Most of you will be more than familiar with the fashion, beauty, home and food offering of retailer Woolworths, affectionately referred to as Woolies, and on...
Balanced Fund: Perspectives and positioning
In a recent webinar, Portfolio Manager Tim Acker discussed the investment environment and looked at how the Allan Gray Balanced Fund is positioned to take...
Balanced Fund: Optionality, the most unappreciated asset
One of the most unappreciated assets in a portfolio is optionality – the ability to take advantage of market disparity and to move between and within asset...
Investment update: Taking advantage of disparities in the market
One of the key preconditions for successful active management is the level of disparity in the markets. Duncan Artus discusses this in our first video and...
Has your risk perception changed as a result of the market crisis?
Historically, deep economic shocks have prompted significant changes in investment and saving behaviour. During times of uncertainty, investors scramble to...
Is your trust in your investment manager well placed?
It has been a volatile six months in the markets, following a five-year period of disappointing equity returns. At times like these, it is understandable for...
Prospects look promising
Disappointing short-term performance has had a dampening effect on longer-term numbers. Looking at similar periods in our history provides useful context and...
Do fundamentals still matter?
There is an increasingly wide disconnect between the economic reality on the ground and the valuations reflected in some asset classes globally, begging the...
Part 4: How to invest to be crisis ready
COVID-19 has driven home an important life lesson: Expect (and plan for) the unexpected. When it comes to your finances, this means balancing the need to hav...
Perspectives and portfolio positioning amid COVID-19
The world as we know it has changed dramatically over the last two months, with the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown strategies causing extreme volatility on t...
Positioning our portfolios for growth beyond COVID-19
The speed at which the financial market swings from despair to elation is astounding. The past few months have seen no shortage of mood swings as investors...
Managing your portfolio through COVID-19
In just a matter of weeks our world has changed dramatically. In an attempt to make sense of it all, we look for information that will provide us with a sens...
Coronavirus: Taking stock of the state of the markets
The world is changing extremely fast. The global business shutdown is unlike anything seen outside wartime. It is impossible to know the length or depth of t...
Making sense of current market conditions
The current market volatility is understandably causing investors much stress. Andrew Lapping examines the impact of coronavirus and the drop of the oil pric...
How to invest in challenging times
A braai over the weekend inevitably reminds us of the significant challenges our country faces – there is lots of negative news to talk about.
Two decades for the Allan Gray Balanced Fund
The Allan Gray Balanced Fund celebrated its 20-year anniversary on 1 October 2019. The local industry looks vastly different today to how it looked two decad...
Reflecting on our top equity holdings
The performance of the Allan Gray Equity, Balanced and Stable funds has been disappointing over the past couple of years. Low single-digit returns from...
Negativity can often present opportunity
With doom and gloom pervading locally, and the world economy slowing, you may be feeling like the safest place for your money is under your mattress. This is...
Valuations matter
Uncertainty abounds at present. Equity returns for the past few years have been underwhelming, political upheaval locally and internationally is causing wave...
Balanced Fund update: An improved opportunity set
The poor sentiment towards equity markets at the end of 2018 reversed sharply in the first quarter of 2019, with the JSE appreciating 8% and the MSCI World...
The year of payback
Excess returns from the FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) relative to cash have disappointed over the last five years, with cash now outperforming, on average....
The upside of down markets
2018 was not a good year for investors with price declines in many asset classes. The FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) fell 8.5% in 2018, or 21% when measured...
Understanding recent performance
2018 was a difficult year for investors with most asset classes falling in price. The prices of all assets are volatile; the only asset to seemingly lack...
Finding opportunity in the volatility
The first quarter proved to be a difficult one with the Allan Gray Equity, Balanced and Stable Funds all delivering negative returns. The most significant...
Investment lessons from 2017: be patient and trust your analysis
Separating oneself from the noise is tricky. There is an enormous amount of information out there; you can listen to experts on television, read newspapers,...
How has your investment been impacted by the fall in the price of Steinhoff?
Global retailer Steinhoff International Holdings NV’s share price had fallen 86.9% by close of trade on Friday 8 December, following CEO Markus Jooste’s...
Balanced Fund update: Unloved stocks present buying opportunities
Investor sentiment towards emerging markets remains weak. This has left emerging markets at a valuation discount to developed markets. The MSCI Emerging Mark...
Striking a balance
Where many investors define risk as the volatility of returns, or the risk of looking different, our focus is always on avoiding permanent loss of capital...
How our unit trusts are positioned for the current environment
The net equity exposure of our flagship unit trusts matches our risk appetite in those unit trusts and the asset allocation is managed accordingly...
Balanced Fund update: The importance of asset allocation
People often stress the importance of asset allocation. For example, we have heard it said that 90% of returns are directly due to asset allocation. We teste...
When is a debit order the better option?
When you think about starting a new investment there are two ways to approach it: either you invest in one go with a lump sum or you do recurring investments...
Keep calm and carry on investing
The past 12 months seem to have passed particularly swiftly, maybe because fundamentally very little changed. Interestingly, the light in which investors vie...
Balanced Fund update: What is a 'high-quality' company?
The Fund’s performance over the past quarter was helped by overweight positions in Standard Bank and Impala Platinum, and by underweight positions in SABMill...
How to be a better long-term investor
Is your behaviour standing in the way of your investment success? Shaheed Mohamed helps us become more aware of common biases so that we can adjust our...
How to think about the rand when making investment decisions
Over the last few years we have been concerned about the strength of the rand and our portfolios have been positioned for currency weakness. One of our...
Managing portfolios in times of uncertainty
My inbox is filling up with commentary about the impact of Brexit. Some of the commentary is of debatable long-term value and with news of this nature it tak...
Annual report from the outgoing Chief Investment Officer
Adapted from the Chief Investment Officer’s comments, which will appear in the Allan Gray Unit Trust Annual Report, 2015. These are Ian Liddle’s final Annual...
Interim investor update
Some clients have asked for an update on how well their investments are doing in the current very volatile market. It’s risky to respond until things have...
What is a PE ratio?
Central to our investment philosophy at Allan Gray is buying shares that the market has priced below what we believe they are worth. We then sell these share...
The upside to downside protection
Warren Buffet famously said that there are two rules when investing, 'Rule No.1: Never lose money, Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.' Shaun Duddy discusses...
What do low global bond yields mean for South African investors?
Adapted from the Chief Investment Officer’s comments, which will appear in the Allan Gray Unit Trust Annual Report, 2014. More than half of global government...
The impact of events relating to African Bank on Allan Gray Unit Trusts
African Bank’s failure has had a small, negative impact on our Allan Gray Equity, Balanced and Stable Funds. In this GrayIssue we attempt to address a broad...
How to ensure your retirement income goes the distance
It is only a number of years into retirement that the consequences of decisions made early on begin to show. If you are nearing retirement , or you are in...
Does the size of your unit trust matter?
Back in September 1998, there were 186 unit trusts available in South Africa. Fast-forward 16 years, and there are now 1 477 registered unit trusts in a...
Analysing your fund's performance
Regular readers of our Quarterly Commentary will know that at Allan Gray we are focused on generating superior returns for our clients over the long term. On...
Do you need a financial check-up?
The end of the year is a good time to review your financial well-being and put some new year’s resolutions in place that aim for better saving and spending...
Looking back at 2011 and preparing for the years ahead
South Africa has thus far been spared the crushing austerity measures affecting Europe. Three important factors have been in our favour so far: a decade of...
The Balanced Fund celebrates 10 years
On 1 October 2009 Allan Gray celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Balanced Fund. Excluding the money market funds, at just over R29bn it is now the...
