Irish Life websites

MAPS Quarterly update Q1 2016

Q1 2016 Economic Look Back

Performance Breakdown

Risk Management

Asset Classes Explained

 

IRISH LIFE MAPS® FUND PERFORMANCE

The table below shows the total returns on each of the five Irish Life MAPS funds since launch (21st May 2013) and over the last 24 and 12 months. Irish Life MAPS is a long-term investment and we would always urge caution when looking at fund performances over time periods of less than five years.

FUND MAP2 MAP3 MAP4 MAP5 MAP6
Since Launch 10.7% 14.9% 21.6% 25.8% 18.4%
24 Months 10% 14.6% 21.3% 24.4% 21.9%
12 Months 1% -0.07% -1.74% -3.12% -7.36%

Source: Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM). Gross returns shown to 31 March 2016, before any fund management charge.

Range of Multi Asset Portfolio Funds

Economic Look Back

 

JANUARY JITTERS

David Haslam 2016 may be remembered for many reasons. Unfortunately, one of them will be the worst January for stock markets on record. Uncertainty over China, the December rate rise in the US and renewed concerns over global growth prospects all contributed to double digit losses across most share indices. February was not much better but eventually the magnitude of the falls coupled with some silver linings brought buyers back and by the end of the quarter shares markets had recovered most of their losses. Needless to say, bonds had a vastly contrasting experience, rising steadily over the quarter.

BROKEN CHINA...

Once again China proved to be a driving force behind sharp market falls. Significant selling pressure in Chinese shares from the first trading day of the year related to plans to remove trading bans for large shareholders of Chinese shares and the introduction of poorly designed circuit breakers quickly spilled over into global share markets. Weakness in the Chinese currency also had investors prepared for a potential devaluation but it never came to pass. Over the quarter however, fears eased as economic data stabilised.

OIL SLICK

The price of oil was very volatile through the first quarter, finally ending up +6.2%. Early concerns centred on continued increases in production, rising inventory levels and Iran returning to international markets after international economic sanctions had been lifted. While lower oil prices are generally a positive and boost consumer spending power, there was a broader concern that the slowdown in global growth was a contributing factor to the weak price not to mention the potential impact of banks being exposed to a highly indebted, and now less profitable, oil sector.

CENTRAL BLANKS!?!

Questions were raised of the effectiveness of Central Bank communications and interventions in the markets. Investors were beginning to question what else they could do to address falling inflation and growth fears. However, more assertive and positive responses, most notably from the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank (ECB) helped restore both credibility and confidence.

SHARES, BONDS, COMMODITIES AND CURRENCIES

Over the quarter the MSCI ACWI share index fell 1.4% while Emerging Market shares rose 2.8% buoyed by more positive US Federal Reserve commentary. The US market rose 1% while the UK rose 0.2%. Japan however fell 12.5% impacted by disappointing economic releases. Meanwhile Eurozone >5 year bonds rose 5.4% as German 10-year yields fell to just 0.15% driven primarily by concerns over growth, low inflation and the ECB expanding their asset purchase programme. Over the quarter, the Euro rose against the US dollar from 108.6 to 1.14 and commodities rose 3.8% having been down 12.8% at one stage. Gold gained 16.4% benefitting from the general flight to safety.

PERFORMANCE BREAKDOWN

The graphs below split out the performance for each Irish Life MAPS fund over the last two years (1st April 2014 to 31st March 2016) into each of the component asset classes.

Taking Irish Life MAP2 as an example, it is up 10% over this two-year period. This 10% can be broken down as shown with 3.5% coming from Low Volatility Shares, 2.8% from Bonds, 2.1% from Property, 1.7% from Global Shares and 0.2% from Emerging Market Shares.

Source: ILIM

The data above is based on Money Mate fund performance and the breakdown of the individual asset class returns is approximate. The data above allows for the effect of the annual reviews of the funds over that period, for example, the move from Minimum Volatility Shares to Low Volatility Shares, the change in External Managers in 2015, the move from Developed Market Shares to Global Shares etc. It also allows for the impact of tactical allocations over the period.

ASSET CLASSES EXPLAINED

1. Shares

2. Bonds

3. External Managers/Alternatives

ILIM recognise the need to incorporate alternative strategies within the Irish Life MAPS funds and have an active pipeline of external managers they monitor on an on-going basis. ILIM currently give access to eight leading global real and absolute return managers making up each Irish Life MAPS fund’s External Managers / Alternatives portion. The percentage allocated to External Managers / Alternatives varies for each Irish Life MAPS fund and thelatest factsheet will show this percentage.

Within this percentage, the target split across the eight managers is shown below as well as details of the managers themselves and the fund we invest in.

ILIM actively look for managers that can bring diverse performance at the right price. They monitor this performance on an ongoing basis and may choose to change the allocation to external managers or the target allocation within the External Manager allocation. They may also choose to replace, add or remove External Managers as opportunities arise and market conditions change.

Manager Assets Managed Fund Name
GMO Source www.gmo.com $118 billion GMO Real Return Fund
Putnam Source www.putnam.com $156 billion Putnam Total Return Fund
AQR Source www.aqr.com $136 billion AQR Global Risk Parity
AQR Style Premia
Blackrock Source www.blackrock.com $4.7 trillion Blackrock FIGO Fund
PIMCO Source www.pimco.com $1.52 trillion PIMCO Income Fund
JP Morgan Asset Management Source www.jpmorgan.com €1.7 trillion JP Morgan Systematic Alpha
Dunn Capital Management Source www.montlakeucits.com $1.1 billion Montlake Dunn WMA
Morgan Stanley Investment Management Source www.morganstanley.com $2 trillion MS Diversified Alpha Plus

 

Information correct as at December 2015.

4. Property

Each Irish Life MAPS fund currently has an allocation to property.

For the percentage of each fund invested in property see the factsheet.

Warning: The value of your investment may go down as well as up
Warning: If you invest in this product you may lose some or all of the money
Warning: These funds may be affected by changes in currency exchange rates.
Warning: Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance.