Local fund manager comes out tops as market bottoms out

While market chaos has left many investors scrambling to salvage what is left of their portfolios, one fund manager has remained resolute in its investment strategy, coming out as the top performer in two sectors.

The current bear market has resulted in a major shift in the global markets and as this shift takes place, it is those fund managers that have kept a cautious eye on downside risks that are reaping the benefits.

GCI, a South African fund manager whose Stop Loss strategy has seen consistent returns for investors, outperformed top contenders in their sectors, ranking 1st out of 34 funds in the Prudential Variable Equity Sector with a return of 73% (14.98% per annum) from the GCI Balanced fund's inception in September 2005 to March 2009, and 2nd in the Flexible Fund sector at 76% (15.31% per annum) since that fund's inception in August 2005.

Over the past two years to date, the firm's Balanced Fund has also been number one in its sector with returns of 17.08%, an excellent record considering the global recession and record levels of market volatility. Returns from the ten next best performers in the sector was on average 11.47%. This sector includes the likes of Allan Gray Balanced and Coronation Balanced, highlighting the outstanding performance of the GCI fund for the period.

Showing consistent returns over the same two-year period, GCI's Flexible Fund offered up 16.41% return whereas the JSE Africa Allshare showed a decline of 8.84%.

The investment firm's strategy has ensured long-term returns for its investors. In this volatile market environment, GCI has reacted by taking measured risk, keeping a vigilant eye on the market flux and exercising caution about when they enter the market and how much they commit to ensure the best gain for each investment.

GCI Fund manager Alex Cook suggests that the rand is considerably vulnerable at current levels. The JSE All Share has seen a rally of 38% since March this year. With share prices rising and earnings falling, the investment firm believes another market correction is still likely.

The firm continues to invest without bias. Cook explains, "We only buy in at prices where we feel sustainable growth is likely and are happy to exit any investment that is threatening our clients' wealth."

"What's as important as performance is low volatility," Cook continues. "Our clients prefer more stability and for this reason, we adopt the GCI Stop Loss strategy to ensure that we limit the loss or risk if stock markets fall apart. We therefore measure our success by performance and by how well we mange market declines. The result of implementing our philosophy is better performance coupled with low risk and we therefore fit our goal of being a complete managed solution for investments," he closes.