Fund Update – March 2024
Global economic activity improved, with both services and manufacturing sectors advancing during the quarter. The flash purchasing managers' index (PMI) data from S&P global continued to allay recession worries. The data showed that the United States (US) economy was still growing steadily, while the European economy was rebounding from a downturn.
Attribution:
The State Street Global Equity Fund outperformed the MSCI World ex Australia Index during March1. Our Alpha model performance was up in March, with positive contribution from Value factors followed by Catalyst. Conversely, Quality and Sentiment were down for the period. From a country and sector perspective, good stock picking within US Utilities and US Energy sectors were key contributors towards relative performance. On the other hand, poor stock selection in US Consumer Services and UK Materials sectors were the key detractors. Currency hedging contributed 0.17% during the month.
Notable changes during the month:
During March, we made minor adjustments to the overall portfolio with the aim of improving expected risk-adjusted returns. The rebalance involved slightly increasing our exposure to select names in the Capital Goods industry within Industrials sector, notably PACCAR Inc on the back of increasing Quality and Sentiment scores. At the same time, we reduced our exposure to Health Care Services companies – such as Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, on the back of falling Value and Sentiment scores.