2017: The story so far, winners and losers

As the first quarter draws to a close we take a look at the winners and losers so far in 2017 looking for clues for the remainder of the year.

(click here for our look at top & bottom sectors)

Exciting, developing nations make up the top performers while Absolute Return dominates the bottom table.

Top funds

• Indian funds take the top spots, including Jupiter India (one of our Trades of the Decade, more on that here).
• Asian and Global Emerging Market funds make up 8/10 funds in the top table…
• …with a Latin American fund and a UK Smaller Companies fund completing the top table.
• Asian and emerging markets have surged in spite of worries about the impact of a stronger dollar, amongst other worries.  

A change of mindset is needed for many investors to reduce their home country bias and capitalise on the great potential in these exciting economies.  With a mix of attractive valuations, young populations, reform-minded governments, political stability and low debt, we would continue backing these winning funds through 2017.

Bottom funds

• Targeted Absolute Return fills 6/10 bottom spots.  While “absolute returns” over periods of 1 to 5 years are “targeted” by many, there are no guarantees.  There may be negative returns over shorter periods but investors need to be wary, as we’ve said before. 
• Energy and natural resources funds have cooled, after a period of good returns in late 2016…
• A North American Smaller Companies fund makes up the table of bottom 10 performers.  The US rally has slowed as investors take stock of Trump’s approach to running the world’s largest economy.  Markets may start to lose patience, particularly if tax reform goes the way of healthcare reform (i.e. not well).

FURTHER READING

• Commodity fund attractions
• Politics and investment in 2017
• Hurrah for ETFs

Table 1: Top 10 Funds

Table 2: Bottom 10 Funds