First Bank Heritage Fund’s registered modest growth in 2016
The Heritage Fund’s Asset Under Management (AUM) grew marginally from GH¢1,548,803.00 from the beginning of the year to GH¢1,649,857.00 showing a growth rate of 6.52 per cent.
The growth in the Fund’s AUM was mainly attributed to returns from the fixed income allocation in the Fund’s portfolio with total purchases amounting to GH¢309,508.00 while redemptions stood at GH¢296,840.00 at the end of the period.
Mr Amenyo Setordzie, the Chief Investment Officer, Heritage Fund, speaking at the Sixth Annual General Meeting of the Fund, said “we expect economic growth to improve in 2017 on the back of proposed tax cuts, increases in oil production, an improved consumer demand and a positive outlook for inflation.
The Heritage Fund’s 2016 end-of-year return was an affirmation of the stock market conditions during that period.
The Fund posted a return of -0.40 per cent for the year 2016, which was much higher than the -15.33 per cent posted by the stock market as a whole.
He said yields on Government of Ghana securities have been trending downwards from 22.65 per cent at the beginning of the year to 16.43 per cent by close of the year 2016.
He said this trend was expected to continue in 2017 given the outlook for inflation and the government indication not to borrow excessively from the local market.
“We consequently expect investors to respond to the fall in rates by reallocating funds from the fixed income market to the equity market, in general, we expect the stock market to perform in 2017 than did it in 2016,” he added.
He said within the year, the Fund manager will continue to pursue a strategy of fine-tuning the portfolio for growth whilst paying close attention to risk management especially given the spill-over effect from last year.
Mr Setordzie appealed to Pension Fund Trustees and Managers, students, workers and the public to invest in the Heritage Fund for their future retirement support and other long term projects.
He urged parents to invest for their children’s future through the Heritage Fund.
Professor John Bright Kobla Aheto, said the Fund had been very resilient and has managed to do better than the market in general, due to prudent portfolio management and stock management and stock selection.
The stock market was expected to rebound in the coming year and “we therefore advice investors to stay put and increase their investment in the Fund.”
He encouraged investors to have long term view and remain optimistic about future prospects of the heritage fund.
“We are committed to giving you our best in managing your Fund,” he added.
source: GNA