Insights

February was a calm month, until the bond market became frantic. Sovereign yields staged a mighty rally, driven by expectations that the barrage of US spending will power up the recovery and ultimately lead the Fed to normalize policy sooner than expected.

The main casualty in the FX arena was the yen, which tends to suffer when global yields rise because the Bank of Japan keeps a ceiling on domestic yields. The euro was another laggard as the ECB appeared ready to fight this spike in rates. The dollar came back to life amid all the turmoil, but the real winner was the sterling. It roared higher as the UK continued to lead the G10 vaccination race. Finally, the relentless rise in yields and a slightly firmer dollar were unfavourable settings for gold, which sank to multi-month lows.

February was an exciting month for the Fund as well, especially during the opening of the month where increased market volatility was harnessed by the algorithms to produce significant gains. The moderate swing movements that followed, had a slightly negative impact on the performance but were subsequently muted by the end of the month’s volatility unlocking further gains.