Whilst October saw global assets take a breather, with investors adopting a more defensive stance ahead of the US election, it was another great month for our flagship Core portfolios, with each one outperforming their benchmark and peers. 

Core Equity100 portfolio delivered a solid 0.7% return in SGD for October, bringing its year-to-date (YTD) performance to a healthy 16.6%. This resulted in outperformance compared to the benchmark MSCI All Country World Index, beating it by 0.3% for the month and 0.6% YTD.  We’re also pleased to report that this YTD performance is better than any of our peers.

In addition, Core Growth, Core Balanced, Core Defensive each outperformed their benchmark delivering 0.9%, 1.1% and 1.2% respectively.

This outperformance reflects the effectiveness of our, recently enhanced, factor-driven strategy —focusing on value, quality, size, and growth factors —alongside additions in fixed income to strengthen stability and income potential. These adjustments have enhanced the portfolio’s resilience and growth potential amid evolving market conditions.

	Oct 2024	YTD 2024	8Y Annualised
CORE PORTFOLIOS (allocation in equity-bond-gold)
Core Equity100 (100% equity)	0.7%	16.6%	10.8%
Core Growth (70-25-5)	0.9%	13.1%	8.6%
Core Balanced (40-50-10)	1.1%	9.8%	5.3%
Core Defensive (20-70-10)	1.2%	7.2%	3.5%
BENCHMARKS (allocation in equity-bond-gold)
MSCI ACWI (100% equity)	0.4%	16.0%	10.4%
S&P Target Risk Growth (60-40-0)	0.4%	10.2%	6.7%
S&P Target Risk Moderate (40-60-0)	0.5%	7.7%	4.8%
S&P Target Risk Conservative (30-70-0)	0.5%	6.4%	3.8%

Equity Performance: Capturing Key Factor Gains

The strategic factor tilts that have historically driven long-term returns, backed by academic research, have helped the equity portion of all portfolios outperform for both October and YTD.

In October, notable contributors included:

• iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (CSPX), which rose 3.07%, as large-cap U.S. equities showed strength.
• Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (QQQ), up 2.31%, provided growth factor exposure through high-potential tech and innovation-focused companies.
• Xtrackers S&P 500 Equal Weight UCITS ETF (XDEW), gained 2.09%, a recent enhancement now provides a more tax efficient way of reducing concentration risk through equal-weighting.
• Dimensional US Targeted Value ETF (DFAT), added in September to enhance our size, value, and quality (high-profitability) factors, returned 1.49%. This ETF focuses on small- and mid-cap companies which are well positioned for the post-election period.

Multi-asset Performance: Enhanced Stability with UCITS Bond Exposure and Gold

For Core Growth, Balanced and Defensive – our multi-asset approach also contributed positively in October, benefitting from broad investment-grade and high-yield bond exposures aimed at balancing growth with income.

Reducing the duration (sensitivity to interest rates) of the bond allocation during the recent upgrade proved beneficial, reducing volatility as the long-term bond yield experienced large fluctuation post the US election.

Key contributors included:

• SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), which soared 7.63%, reinforcing its role as a diversifying asset amidst broader market fluctuations.
• iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (USHY), which returned 2.33% in October. This high-yield exposure supports income generation amid shifting interest rate expectations.
• iShares Core Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF (AGGU), recently added to broaden our investment-grade exposure whilst optimising for tax, which rose 1.69%

The continued contribution of Gold and UCITS bond ETFs is part of our strategy to deliver broad diversification and tax efficiency whilst helping stabilise returns and manage risk.

Looking Ahead: A Balanced Approach for Long-Term Growth

Our Core Portfolio’s performance in October highlights the benefits of a disciplined, factor-based, tax-efficient approach.

We remain committed to this strategy, click here for a refresher, aiming to provide our investors with a resilient, returns-focused portfolio built to withstand market fluctuations and maximise opportunities.

Our portfolios remain well-positioned for the post-election period, be it through diversification, small caps, or tax efficiency, just to name a few.

If you have any questions, feedback or there are other topics you would like to hear more on then please don’t hesitate to reach out at advisory@syfe.com.