CHINA — TURNING A CORNER?

FOORD FIXED INCOME FUNDS

DID YOU KNOW? YEAR OF THE RABBIT

Foreword | Issue 64 | 4th Quarter 2022

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China - Turning a Corner?

Chinese equities were resilient in 2020 as the country (ironically) avoided the COVID-19 recessions that afflicted most other economies. China then heavily underperformed after implementing strict zero-COVID policies and scoring a slew of policy own goals. Foord Singapore portfolio manager JC XUE looks at whether China has now turned a corner.

The Year in Review

Calendar year 2022 started with a tone of cautious optimism. However, all too swiftly markets succumbed to a new threat: rising global inflation. Investment professional LINDA EEDES describes how the inflation theme came to dominate global markets, leading to the worst year for global stocks and bonds combined in 150 years.

Foord Umbrella Provident Fund — A Thousand-Bagger Investment

The Foord staff provident fund in which all Foord employees invest was started in April 1987 as the brainchild of the then Foord & Meintjes principals, Dave Foord, Liston Meintjes and Mark Hodges. The contribution rate was a modest 10% on the expectation that employees should contribute more, where possible.

MARKETS IN A NUTSHELL - DECEMBER 2022

‘Markets in a nutshell’ is Foord Asset Management’s monthly overview of market movements.

MARKETS IN A NUTSHELL - DECEMBER 2022

December’s market decline saw global equities ending the year down 18% in US dollar terms. Continued hawkish central bank rhetoric on quelling inflation, which has spread to the services sectors, clashed with investor optimism on softer CPI prints. Almost all the global equity sectors were negative in December, with utilities the only exception. Information technology and consumer discretionary led declines as investors pulled out of cyclical sectors more geared to economic growth.

Five Economic Risks Heading Into 2023

While markets were swept up by the holiday spirit, central banks continued to aggressively raise interest rates globally. During November we saw another sobering set of 75 basis point interest rate increases in South Africa, the US, Europe, as well as the UK.