After a strong start in January, when the fund was up almost 5%, the following two month’s correction in the global markets hurt the portfolio. The fund has a 50/50 mix of emerging markets equity vs developed markets. The best performing part of the portfolio was Russia, benefiting from good momentum, strong oil prices and Russian equities being the laggards of emerging markets in 2017.
India lost single digits despite strong economic fundamentals but after strong gains in 2017, a pullback is to be expected. China posted a small gain. China gained 2% for the quarter. Impressive first-quarter growth as China’s GDP came in at 6.8%. The main event that took place during the quarter was that the removal of term limits which means the President can essentially sit as long as he likes.
Domicile: Malta Source: Bloomberg