10X

The CoreShares board, our executive team, and staff are excited to announce a 100% cash offer from 10X Investments, which marks the merging of 10X Investments and CoreShares and the creation of an independent, full-service, indexing, and rules-based investment specialist with more than R31billion in assets under management. Read more for additional details about the transaction

CoreShares offers two multi-asset funds, namely the CoreShares Wealth Accumulation Fund (which falls into the ASISA High Equity category and targets CPI+5%) and the CoreShares Stable Income Fund (which falls into the ASISA low equity category and targets CPI+3%). In this report we look at the events of 2021 and assess both funds’ performance during the fourth quarter of 2021 and 2021 as a whole.

We are delighted to announce that we now offer exposure to FTSE Global All Cap Index as both a Unit Trust and an ETF. This index represents the full opportunity set of large, mid, and small-cap stocks across 25 developed and 24 emerging markets, comprising over 9000 constituents across 10 sectors and is arguably the most comprehensive ‘all in’ global strategy available in South Africa.

Investment strategies focused on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) metrics have risen to prominence over the past decade. Globally, investors are aligning their portfolios with their ESG beliefs. While South Africa has lagged this trend to some extent, ESG investing is taking hold as investors look to bolster their risk analysis processes and generate more sustainable returns over the long term.

For years, we’ve heard how unfair it is to judge active managers in bull markets. That we should wait for more challenging times. So the argument goes, active managers’ risk management protects investors during downward markets. An early assessment of the COVID-19 Crisis suggests that active managers, particularly the largest, haven’t delivered on this

Investors face a constant challenge – that of predicting the following year’s returns. Too often, investors obsess over trying to predict next year’s winner – even as the evidence shows that making short-term predictions is impossible.

One of the fundamental building blocks of any investment plan is a clearly defined time horizon. Most importantly, it is crucial to understand when drawdowns will be made. Typically, a longer time horizon allows for greater risk appetite, whilst a shorter horizon allows for less. In other words, your time horizon usually informs your allocations towards growth assets, such as equities, or defensive assets, including cash.

In the world of sports, a ‘win rate’ is a common way to compare teams or coaches over different periods. When assessing the ‘Cash is king’ narrative, I would like to propose that we look at win rates as opposed to very specific time periods. Specific time comparisons can be problematic as they promote investor biases, with investors often losing sight of the bigger picture.

Passive investment funds, which track indices in a cost- effective manner, have surged in popularity over the past decade as institutional and retail investors turn away from pricier active strategies – most of which struggle to beat their benchmarks.

The role of the financial advisor has changed dramatically in recent years due to the proliferation of investment products and downward pressure on fees. To set themselves apart in this new landscape, financial advisors are increasingly employing low-cost passive investment products alongside the expertise of discretionary fund managers as they seek to meet or exceed the long- term goals of their clients.

Active and passive strategies play highly complementary roles in a well-constructed investment portfolio that aims to deliver strong returns over the long run. Instead of taking an ‘either or’ approach, investors should use active strategies where they make sense in a portfolio, and passive strategies where this approach is suited.

Investors have been saddled with far greater responsibility in recent decades as defined contribution schemes replaced defined benefit schemes. Along with investors living longer, this creates a challenge for retirement planning. CoreShares Asset Management took a fresh look at this challenge through a scientific lens. Evidence-based investing is an investment strategy that is not influenced by short-term market trends or predictions. Instead, it relies on accurate facts and credible analysis (published and peer-reviewed) – with which to make calculated, unbiased decisions.