Page 178 - Profile's Unit Trusts & Collective Investments - March 2026

Chapter 9 Fund manager interviews

while many others (Nvidia) are generating a large portion of their earnings from this same data centre
spend. The economic returns of this AI spend are uncertain and it is a highly competitive space.
The primary companies and products in the AI space (OpenAI, Anthropic) are not yet profitable.
We can’t be certain that there will be a significant correction however, we don’t believe investors
are being adequately compensated for the risk they are taking at these valuations and earnings
levels. Companies in sectors less affected to AI disintermediation across the globe, certain well
capitalised South African companies and specific geographies such as Japan and India all provide
new avenues for measured portfolio diversification.

Which asset classes do you expect will give the best total rates of return over the next few
years?
Equities. Should government’s reforms materialise and the GDP growth rate improve, SA Inc
should do very well. Companies have survived a no growth environment for many years. They are
lean and highly leveraged to top line growth. Many of these companies trade at single digit multiples
and high dividend yield. Should the growth not materialise, we should still see double digit return
with low downside.
Activist positions, gold, energy and certain commodities. The US is continuing to compound
record levels of government debt while engaging in global military and economic warfare. The global
race for AI and energy investment will add further tailwinds to these asset classes.
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Visio BCI Balanced Fund
Sector: South African–Multi Asset–High Equity Unit Trust
Awards
Portfolio managers: Patrice Moyal and Jonathan Myerson 2026
Benchmark: ASISA SA Multi Asset High Equity sector average For performance to 31 December 2025
WINNER
Returns to investors 1 year 3 years
Visio BCI Balanced Fund 25.36% 19.65%
Sector Average 18.80% 14.80%
Inflation (CPI) 3.60% 3.91%
ProfileData performance stats to 31 December 2025: CAGR with dividends reinvested

Describe your investment universe
SA equity, SA fixed income, SA property, SA cash, Global equity, Global fixed income, Global
property, Global cash and Commodities.

Comment on your investment year (January - December 2025) from a fund manager’s point
of view
South African equities had another stellar year with the Capped ALSI returning 42.6%. We were
able to reposition the funds in Q2 2025 enabling us to recover from the early underperformance.
Resources were the biggest gainers during the year with an index return of 138.2% which came
from Gold and PGM counters. Telecoms were the only other sector to beat the market performance
with a return of 67.1%, followed by technology at 33.1%. SA Inc performed poorly compared to the
market with property returning 23.2%, financials 20.5% and consumer goods 5.8%. Consumer
discretionary and general industrials recorded negative returns of -9% and -14%, respectively.
Gold and PGM prices again had a stellar 2025, with gold increasing by 64% compared to
platinum’s 127% rally. Metals have continued their surge amid a weakening US dollar and elevated
global uncertainty. The factors that drove metals prices higher over the past year remain intact,
we therefore see continuing support for prices. In the first week of January, President Trump (US)
intervened in Venezuela and arrested President Maduro. He also threatened to take over Greenland
and now the current conflict in Iran seeing a push for regime change.
The poor performance of SA Inc in 2025 resulted in shares being attractively priced with the
potential to outperform should earnings growth recover, driven by higher GDP in SA. The country

176 Profile’s Unit Trusts & Collective Investments March 2026