Standard Investment Bank's multi-asset strategy fund Mansa-X has posted its highest half-year return for the period ended June 2023 at 8.69 percent.
The return is higher compared to the 2022 half-year return of 7.93 percent for the diversified fund which invests across multiple asset classes, including currencies, precious metals, commodities and stock indices.
Its return in the half year of 2019, 2020 and 2021 stood at 7.97, 7.63 and 6.8 percent respectively.
The improved performance in the latest period under the shilling-denominated fund has been attributed largely to better-than-expected returns from the global equities market.
“In our 2023 outlook, we indicated that the underperformance of stocks in 2022 would not continue as economic data was still proving to be resilient and companies were better prepared to handle the turbulent environment of higher interest rates," Mansa-X Portfolio manager Nahashon Mungai told the Business Daily.
"This became more evident for us at the start of 2023 as company earnings continued to outperform estimates which allowed us to perfectly position Mansa-X investors to benefit from the bullish move.”
The fund has nevertheless positioned itself to reap from rebounding returns from government bonds, illustrated by the evolution of its top 10 holdings.
Mansa-X's top five holdings include Eurobonds, the German 10-year bond and Kenyan local bonds mirroring the attraction amid renewed volatility in the global markets arising largely from a general lift-off in interest rates.
The bond holdings round off to 22.2 percent of the fund’s Sh15.3 billion assets under management or Sh3.4 billion.
