Allan Gray Balanced Fund
Our flagship long-term unit trust
The goal of the Balanced Fund is to create steady, long-term wealth for investors by balancing income generation, capital growth and risk of loss using a mixed selection of assets. We aim to beat the average performance of similar unit trusts without taking any more risk.
The Balanced Fund is suitable for you if:
- You are looking for steady, long-term capital growth
- You are ideally investing for at least three years
- You are comfortable with taking on some risk of market fluctuation and potential capital loss
- You wish to invest in a unit trust that complies with legal investment limits for retirement funds
The 'factsheets' contain all the information and disclosures as required by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to be included in minimum disclosure documents and general investor reports.
Portfolio managers
Portfolio manager commentary as at 31 March 2024
The FTSE/JSE All Share Index trended lower over the quarter, with several shares falling on the release of their financial results. The operating environment for local businesses is very tough. In contrast, global equities have been strong, with the MSCI World Index surpassing its previous 2022...
Read morePerformance after fees with all distributions reinvested
as at 31 March 2024 (In rands)
Benchmark: The market value-weighted average return of funds in the South African – Multi Asset – High Equity category (excluding Allan Gray funds). From inception to 31 January 2013 the benchmark was the market value-weighted average return of the funds in both the Domestic Asset Allocation Medium Equity and Domestic Asset Allocation Variable Equity sectors of the previous ASISA Fund Classification Standard, excluding the Allan Gray Balanced Fund.
Annualised Returns
This is a way of reporting the return earned over a period as a percentage per year. Although the figure stated implies that the same percentage return was delivered every year, the actual return in each year may have been more or less than the reported figure, depending on the unit trust’s volatility. Annualised performance reporting simplifies comparison across different time periods and across different types of investments.
Risk measures
as at 31 March 2024
Investment strategy
To achieve the Balanced Fund's goal, we invest in shares of companies, commodities, bonds issued by companies and the government and cash. The Balanced Fund can invest a maximum of 45% offshore.The offshore portion of the unit trust is typically invested into a mix of unit trusts managed by Orbis Investments, our offshore investment partner.
We determine the mix of assets in the Balanced Fund based on where we are finding the best value. The Balanced Fund is managed to comply with the retirement fund investment limits, its maximum exposure to equities is 75%.
The Balanced Fund may reduce net equity exposure from time to time using exchange-traded derivative contracts on stock market indices.
Month-End Net Equity Exposure
(Max 75%)
Asset allocation
as at 31 March 2024
Including currency hedges.
What are the costs?
All the Balanced Fund’s expenses, including the investment management fee, are deducted before performance figures are calculated. There are no separate or additional costs. The total investment charge is broken down below:
Investment management fee1
View fee breakdownOther expenses2
VAT
Total expense ratio (TER)3
Transaction costs
Total investment charge
1 Investment management fees are charged for the investment manager’s investment research and decision-making. This figure includes the Allan Gray investment management fee, which is charged only on the portion of the unit trust invested locally, as well as the fees charged by Orbis on the portion invested offshore.
2 This includes audit fees, taxes and other administration costs.
3 This is a measure of the actual costs that have been deducted from the unit trust over the past three years to 31 March 2024 (annualised).
4 The fee charged for benchmark performance. This figure includes the Allan Gray investment management fee at benchmark, which is charged only on the portion of the unit trust invested locally, as well as the fees charged within the underlying Orbis unit trusts for performance equal to the relevant unit trust’s benchmark.
5 The portion of the investment management fee that is charged for performance above or below the benchmark performance. For more information about our annual investment management fees, refer to these frequently asked questions.
The investment management fee depends on performance
The fee we charge depends on how well the Balanced Fund performs against its benchmark.
Min: 0.5% - Max: 1.5% excluding VAT
- 1% is charged when the unit trust performance is the same as its benchmark’s performance.
- If the Balanced Fund beats or fails to achieve benchmark performance (measured over two years), for each percentage difference, we add or deduct 0.1% to or from the fee.
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For more information about our annual investment management fees, refer to these frequently asked questions.
Note: There may be slight discrepancies in the totals due to rounding.
Important information for investors
Collective Investment Schemes in Securities (unit trusts) are generally medium- to long-term investments. The value of units may go down as well as up and past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The Management Company does not provide any guarantee regarding the capital or the performance of its unit trusts. Unit trusts may be closed to new investments at any time in order for them to be managed according to their mandates. Unit trusts are traded at ruling prices and can engage in borrowing and scrip lending.
Performance figures are provided by Allan Gray and are for lump sum investments with income distributions reinvested. Actual investor performance may differ as a result of the investment date, the date of reinvestment and dividend withholding tax. Movements in exchange rates may also be the cause of the value of underlying international investments going up or down. Unit trust prices are calculated on a net asset value basis, which is the total market value of all assets in the unit trust including any income accruals and less any permissible deductions from the unit trust, divided by the number of units in issue. Forward pricing is used and fund valuations take place at approximately 16:00 each business day. Purchase and redemption requests must be received by 14:00 each business day to receive that day’s price. Unit trust prices are available daily on our prices page. Permissible deductions may include management fees, brokerage, Securities Transfer Tax (STT), auditor’s fees, bank charges and trustee fees. A schedule of fees, charges and maximum commissions is available on request from the Management Company. For more information about our annual management fees, refer to these frequently asked questions.
The annual management fees charged by both Allan Gray and Orbis (if applicable) are included in the Total investment charge. The total expense ratio (TER) is the annualised percentage of the Fund’s average assets under management that has been used to pay the Fund’s actual expenses over the past three years. The TER includes the annual management fees that have been charged (both the fee at benchmark and any performance component charged), VAT and other expenses like audit and trustee fees. Transaction costs (including brokerage, Securities Transfer Tax [STT], STRATE and Investor Protection Levy and VAT thereon) are shown separately. Transaction costs are a necessary cost in administering the financial product and impacts financial product returns. They should not be considered in isolation as returns may be impacted by many other factors over time including market returns, the type of financial product, the investment decisions of the investment manager and the TER. Since Fund returns are quoted after the deduction of these expenses, the TER and transaction costs should not be deducted again from published returns. As unit trust expenses vary, the current TER cannot be used as an indication of future TERs. A higher TER does not necessarily imply a poor return, nor does a low TER imply a good return. Instead, when investing, the investment objective of the Fund should be aligned with the investor’s objective and compared against the performance of the Fund. The TER and other funds’ TERs should then be used to evaluate whether the Fund performance offers value for money. The sum of the TER and transaction costs is shown as the total investment charge.
You can obtain additional information about your proposed investment from Allan Gray free of charge. Simply email info@allangray.co.za or call our Client Service Centre on 0860 000 654.
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