Foord International Fund
For conservative, absolute-return investors
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The fund aims to achieve meaningful inflation-beating US$ returns over rolling five-year periods from a conservatively managed portfolio of global investments reflecting Foord's prevailing best investment view.
FOR INVESTORS
- With a moderate risk profile
- Seeking preservation of capital and safe investment growth.
REGISTERED COUNTRIES
Japan, Luxembourg, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom.
| Year | Fund Return % | MSCI World Return % | US Inflation % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 (from 10/Mar) | 9.1 | 13.1 | 1.3 |
| 1998 | 13.9 | 24.3 | 1.6 |
| 1999 | -11.7 | 24.9 | 2.7 |
| 2000 | 23.7 | -13.2 | 3.4 |
| 2001 | -4.0 | -16.8 | 1.6 |
| 2002 | 3.2 | -19.9 | 2.5 |
| 2003 | 21.1 | 33.1 | 2.0 |
| 2004 | 13.0 | 14.7 | 3.3 |
| 2005 | 5.8 | 9.5 | 3.3 |
| 2006 | 18.4 | 20.1 | 2.5 |
| 2007 | 12.7 | 9.0 | 4.1 |
| 2008 | -18.4 | -40.7 | 0.0 |
| 2009 | 18.8 | 30.0 | 2.8 |
| 2010 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 1.4 |
| 2011 | -1.1 | -5.5 | 3.0 |
| 2012 | 11.2 | 15.8 | 1.8 |
| 2013 | 15.1 | 26.7 | 1.5 |
| 2014 | -1.9 | 4.9 | 0.7 |
| 2015 | 1.9 | -0.9 | 0.7 |
| 2016 | 1.2 | 7.5 | 2.2 |
| 2017 | 15.5 | 22.4 | 2.0 |
| 2018 | -9.6 | -8.7 | 1.9 |
| 2019 | 17.0 | 27.7 | 2.3 |
| 2020 | 6.8 | 15.9 | 1.3 |
The use of MSCI benchmark is for performance comparison only
| Objective |
To achieve meaningful inflation-beating US dollar returns over a full investment cycle. |
| Time horizon |
Longer than five years. |
| Inception date |
2 April 2013 |
| Initial investment amount |
US$10,000 or equivalent |
| Subsequent subscription amount |
US$1,000 or equivalent |
| Significant restrictions |
Complies with UCITS regulation. In addition, the Fund cannot entered into total return swaps, securities lending transactions, repurchase transactions or reverse repurchase transactions or any other securities financing transactions. Only listed derivatives can be used for efficient portfolio management. |
| Income distributions |
A roll-up fund with income being reinvested in the portfolio. |
| Income characteristics |
Zero income yield as it does not distribute its income. |
| Portfolio orientation |
Flexible asset allocation across different asset classes - global equities, listed commodity securities, interest-bearing securities, cash and money market instruments - to achieve its objective. |
| Risk considerations |
The fund is priced in US dollars. Among others, investment value is subject to foreign exchange risk, market risk and interest rate risk, and credit risk of the issuers. |
| Risk of loss |
Moderate in periods shorter than five years. Subject to market volatility, lower in longer term. |
| Security description | Asset class | Country of Listing | Portfolio weight % |
|---|---|---|---|
| FMC Corp | Equity | US | 8.6 |
| SSE PLC | Equity | GB | 5.6 |
| Nestle | Equity | CH | 5.6 |
| Roche Holding AG | Equity | CH | 4.4 |
| CVS Health Corp | Equity | US | 4.2 |
Monthly Commentary – December 2020
- Developed market equities (+4.2%) again reached new highs—the approval of the first COVID-19 vaccines by US, UK and EU regulators and (delayed) passage of a $900 billion US pandemic relief bill drove markets
- Improving global economic sentiment propelled emerging markets (+7.4%) higher—commodity exporters Brazil (+13.6%) and Russia (+10.1%) led returns, boosted by increases in underlying commodity prices including oil (+8.9%) and iron ore (+25.1%)
- Developed market bond yields diverged modestly—European sovereign yields declined on reaccelerating COVID-19 infections, while US yields edged higher on a modest improvement in US employment and the COVID-19 vaccine approvals
- The US dollar continued to weaken against most emerging market currencies and the majors—improving global economic prospects and an 11th hour Brexit trade deal led to gains for the euro (+2.3%) and British pound (+2.4%)
- Industrial commodities oil (+8.9%), copper (+2.7%) and iron ore (+25.1%) rose on expectations that production, distribution and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines may be enough to curtail the pandemic and accelerate global growth in 2021—precious metals gold (+6.6%) and silver (19.6%) rebounded after three months of retreat
- UK utility SSE PLC (+11.8%) and Hong-Kong property developer Wharf REIC (+11.9%) contributed the most to performance—Chinese insurer PICC Property & Casualty (-8.3%), detracted
- The managers continue to favour equities over other asset classes—mindful of elevated equity valuations, however, the managers also hold cash, precious metals and a modest derivative position to hedge against a potential market retracement
Management Fee (Percentage of the applicable Net Asset Value per share)
Class B: 1.00% (Institutional investors)
Class R: 1.00% (Retail investors)
WHAT IF YOU HAD INVESTED WITH US IN THE PAST?
Experience the compounding phenomenon of a sustained, long-term investment with Foord.
Insights
14 Jan 2021
The Rise and rise of the Foord Global Equity Fund
The Foord Global Equity Fund performed extraordinarily well in 2020, which was an extraordinary year by any measure. Portfolio manager Ishreth Hassen reviews the fund’s index-beating performance.
13 Jan 2021
Markets in a Nutshell — December 2020
Developed market equities again reached new highs on the first COVID-19 vaccine approvals by US, UK and EU regulators and the passage in the US of a $900 billion pandemic relief bill. Despite accelerating COVID-19…