China’s economic slowdown, plummeting commodity prices led by oil, and stuttering global growth have combined to create the worst start to the year on record. You can’t blame investors for feeling anxious as the media speculates that there could be more turbulence to come.
While market volatility could continue in the short-term, Zurich’s view is that this pessimism could be somewhat overstated. The US banking sector is functioning, and while markets are not exactly firing, economic growth remains in positive territory and corporate debt profiles are in better shape.
That said, the very nature of markets means future periods of volatility will be inevitable. And while the roller coaster ride isn’t always a comfortable one, the good news is that it provides the impetus for Advisers and investors to come together and review the performance of their investment strategies.
Advising through turbulent times
Advisers work with their clients to separate emotion from fact so they can continue to make logical decisions – whether that be holding their ground or adjusting strategies to meet new goals, financial situations or risk appetite.
At Zurich we partner with specialist fund managers from around the world to create intelligent and innovative funds that meet the objective of various investment portfolios. Now is a good time to revisit some of Zurich’s unique and innovative funds.
Global Growth Share Fund
For the year to December 2015, Zurich’s Global Growth Share Fund, powered by American Century Investments, achieved a 14.8% return, outperforming the market by 3%. This success comes down to American Century Investments’ ability to pin point companies with a catalyst or inflection point that will drive acceleration in a company’s revenue and earnings. These investment ideas and unique business models are chosen for their sustainability in the face of uncertain times.
Concentrated Global Growth Fund
Off the back of the ongoing success of Zurich’s Global Growth Share Fund, last year Zurich launched the Concentrated Global Growth Fund. This highly focused fund is suitable for investors wanting ‘high conviction’ exposure to a 30-50 stock portfolio of international shares. This is about honing in on the ‘best ideas’ in the global market.
Equity Income Fund
Zurich’s domestically focused Equity Income Fund, managed by strategic investment partner Denning Pryce, is an income-focused Australian equities fund. By investing in blue chip shares and using conservative derivatives strategies, it seeks high and regular levels of income and lower volatility than other equity funds.
Australian Property Securities Fund
The Australian Property Securities Fund offers a specialised diversification play with a high quality asset manager, Renaissance Property Securities. The highly experienced investment team’s multi-layered research drives stock conviction that has delivered outstanding long-term returns for investors.
For more information regarding the recent performance of Zurich’s broad suite of managed funds, please contact the Zurich Investments Sales Team on 1800 004 480 or zurich.investments@zurich.com.au
