Many investors in the growing pool of equity-linked managed Funds are losing out on good returns being enjoyed by others in the Unit Trust industry because they fail to focus regularly eyes on their investment and compare the performance of their investment against others.
Investors wanting to enjoy stock market-like gains with reduced risk have several options, but paying attention to past performance can make a big difference between ordinary or excellent returns.
Investors should review the performance of their investment regularly at least once per year to see how well theirs stack up with similar forms of investment. This applies to stocks, Unit Trusts, money market instruments or any other forms of investment.
A good example is the long-term top unit trust performer Barita’s Capital Growth Fund that gained the most for the year to September, with an increase of 43.15 percent, outperforming by far the 23.69 percent posted in the corresponding period in 2018. The Fund’s twelve-month growth was an attractive 52.67 percent, the highest of all the local equity Funds.
New kid on the block JN Mutual Funds Global Equity Fund holds the number 2 spot with growth of 35.91 percent to October 2 and gained just over 31 percent for the last twelve months, followed by Sagicor Investments’ Sigma Equity Fund with, growth of 31.31 percent and sits at number 3 for 2019 to date but that is lower than the 36.47 percent at the similar point in 2018. VM’s Wealth Classic Equity Growth portfolio is the fourth-best performing Fund in 2019 with a gain of 29.78 percent and is significantly up on the 16.42 percent increase in the 2018 period. NCB’s E Fund is next with 29.26 percent for 2019, a huge turnaround compared to last year’s mere 2.96 percent gain.
Barita’s Capital Growth Fund that led the pack with growth for the twelve-month period is followed by Sagicor’s Sigma Equity Fund with 39.84 percent and in third place, VMWealth Classic Equity with 33.96 percent.
Scotia Premium Growth Fund delivered a 23.14 percent growth while JMMB Income & Growth Fund had gains of 22.64 percent for the nine months to September. Sigma Global Venture Equity Fund delivered gains of 18.22 percent for the year to September and 17.60 percent for the 12 months.
The bottom three performing equity Funds for the year to September are JN Global Diversified Income with 11.26 percent growth and a twelve-month growth of 9.10 percent as of October 2, JMMB Optimum Capital generated just 15.7 percent gains for the nine months, and 11.44 percent for the past 12 months.
The three best performing Funds, Sagicor’s Sigma Equity, Scotia’s Premium Growth and Barita’s Capital Growth, have been and continue to outperform the other players in the market over the long term, despite encountering periodic blips in their performance due to local and external economic conditions.
For the past 5 years to the end of 2018, the three best performing Funds were Sagicor’s Sigma Equity, Scotia’s Premium Growth and Barita’s Capital Growth, and for the 10 years to 2018, the same three Funds have been the top performers.