MAB Growth Quarterly Review Q4 2025 - Flipbook - Page 5
Performance commentary
Market
The second quarter of 2026 was, in short, a strong
recovery after the pullback seen at the end of the
昀椀rst quarter.
You may recall that markets fell in March. This was
because rising tensions in the Middle East had
pushed up the price of oil, and investors worried
that more expensive energy would push in昀氀ation
back up. Higher in昀氀ation usually means interest
rates stay higher for longer, which tends to be bad
for both shares and bonds.
Over the second quarter, these worries faded. The
disruption to oil supplies proved less serious than
had been feared, and energy prices fell back. With
in昀氀ation looking calmer, investors began to expect
interest rates to be cut once again. This was good
news for markets.
Shares rose almost everywhere. Global shares,
measured by the MSCI All Country World Index (a
broad measure of stock markets around the world),
rose +14.2% over the quarter. The biggest gains
came from Emerging Markets and the wider Asia
region, which rose by +23%, and from technology
companies. Japan (+13.5%), the US (+14.4%) and
Continental Europe (+12.3%) all rose strongly too.
These companies, often in areas like technology,
are valued on pro昀椀ts expected many years into the
future. When interest rates are expected to fall,
those future pro昀椀ts become more valuable today,
which helps their share prices.
Bonds recovered too. High-quality global bonds
(loans to governments and large, 昀椀nancially strong
companies) rose +1.3% as worries about interest
rates eased, and more risky, higher-yielding bonds
did even better.
The one area that struggled was commodities,
such as oil and metals. These had been among the
best performers earlier in the year, but their prices
fell back this quarter, with commodity markets
down around -8.0%. This is a helpful reminder that
the investments which protect a portfolio in one
environment will often lag in another. It is exactly
why we hold a wide mix of different investments.
There was a brief wobble right at the end of the
quarter, when Emerging Market and technology
shares dipped. But this did little to change what
had been a strong three months overall.
Not every market did as well. The UK rose a more
modest +4.7%, and China fell -7.2%.
This time, it was the more “growth” focused
companies that did best, which was the opposite
of what happened at the start of the year.
Total fund
The Multi-Asset Blend Growth Fund (“the Fund”) returned +12.7% over the
second quarter, compared with the +9.5% return of its IA Mixed Investment
40-85% Shares performance comparator.
Since the Fund’s launch on 22nd July 2019, the Fund has generated a
cumulative return of +77.0%, approximately 24% ahead of its IA sector
comparator (+52.6%).
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