Market & Portfolio Update - July 2020
Global share markets continued to rise following the volatility we saw during March, up a further 3% in July. This continued the theme of previous months as share markets are looking through rising cases of Covid-19 in the United States to news of potential vaccine developments, higher profits from some tech companies relatively immune to the virus, and support from governments and central banks. Fixed Interest investments also made a good contribution to fund returns, with bonds rising in value amidst the continued stimulus from central banks.
In addition to the general rise in markets, the portion of global share investments that are managed in conjunction with Rothschild continued their strong performance. Standout returns came from Alibaba (Chinese e-commerce giant), Linde (multi-national industrial gas company), and Danaher (US-based conglomerate) which each gained more than 10%.
The rise in markets since March combined with the gains from our active management mean that returns over the last 12 months are now solidly positive for all of Booster’s core diversified funds. This positive gain despite the disruptions to world economies over this period is testament to the importance of sticking to an appropriate long-term financial plan during both rough and calm seas.
The magic of the managed fund
Let’s talk about shares for a minute. No matter how you invest, there are really just two ways to make money from owning shares:
1. You receive a slice of the profits (called dividends), or
2. You sell your shares to someone else for more than you paid (that’s capital gain).
That’s it. Anything else is simply a different way of packaging those two outcomes.
What is Life Insurance?
Life insurance is one of those things that many people know they should probably have but they’re not quite sure what it does, how it works, or whether it’s actually relevant to them. This article breaks it down in clear, everyday terms to help you understand the basics before you decide if it’s something worth exploring further.