Foord Global Equity Fund (Singapore)

Monthly Commentary – September 2020

• Global equities (-3.2%) fell for the first time in six months, weighed down by benchmark-heavy tech stocks—a wave of IPOs, M&A and stock splits typically evident of excessive liquidity characterised the month
• US equities (-3.8%) declined on disappointing macroeconomic data and expiring stimulus measures—America’s unemployment rate is still high at 8.4%, with retail sales growth slowing dramatically in August
• The US dollar strengthened against most majors, weighing on emerging markets and commodities—gold (-4.1%) retraced some of its recent gains and oil (-9.6%) tumbled after Saudi Arabia cut prices for major customers
• Emerging markets (-1.6%) displayed mixed performance—commodity consumers such as India (+0.6%) (also on rumours of more stimulus) faring better than commodity producers such as Brazil (-7.1%) and Russia (-7.4%)
• On the geopolitical front, tensions between the US and China (-2.7%) remain elevated—the Pentagon said it would extend export restrictions to China’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer SMIC
• All sectors fell—energy (-12.1%), financials (-5.3%) and communication services (-5.1%) performed worst
• The fund performed in line with its benchmark—its non-tech Chinese investments mostly added value, while core holdings Alphabet (-10.1%) and Wheaton Precious Metals (-8.1%) weighed on performance
• The managers raised cash and added to portfolio hedges ahead of the volatility—market valuation levels remain stretched given the prevailing macroeconomic environment

The annual fee comprises a fixed standard fee plus a performance fee, subject to an overall minimum.

The annual fee may be adjusted up daily (subject to fulfilling the performance conditions) by the performance fee, calculated as the difference between the portfolio performance and the benchmark return for the same period multiplied by the performance fee sharing rate.

Initial fees: NONE
Annual fee: 0.85% + 15% of outperformance over the benchmark