NEWSROOM
Apex Viewpoint 2022 Investment Returns
Following our previous newsletter with a recap of the happenings in 2022, let’s look at the returns from the past year, what investments did well and what struggled
In 2022, no asset class beat inflation, which was elevated at 7.4% for the year. With interest rates going up, cash provided some reasonable (before tax) returns for the year, and SA Equities did better than most markets around the world, returning 3.6%. Offshore Equities were the worst performing asset class for the year, losing 13.0% (19.5% in US Dollars). For many investors in countries with double digit inflation during 2022, it was a particularly difficult year for preserving wealth.
Most investing is done for periods longer than 1 year however, and the longer term returns over 5 and 10 years still show that you should be invested with a large allocation to offshore and SA equities if you want to get returns significantly outperforming inflation.
As we did this time last year, we have also compared the returns our clients have had when compared to other large independent wealth managers in South Africa and the average fund. We have had to redact the names of these other wealth managers, but we have been very pleased with the results.
Looking at “balanced funds”, which have around 30% offshore and 65% in equities, our returns have been near the top over 1 and 3 years, and top performing over longer periods. We have also outperformed the average balanced fund (the black dot) over all time periods, showing that our work of choosing and blending the best funds has paid off.
We don’t only strive to provide additional returns, we also want those returns to come with less volatility and less risk to you. The below is a risk/return scatter plot and ideally you want to be top left because this indicates higher returns, but also less volatility and risk
At Apex, we spend a lot of time and energy on our investment process and picking and blending the best funds available. This process has rewarded us and our clients and we strive to continually implement and improve this in the years ahead.