Multi-asset delivers 'impressive' capital preservation in 'testing' Q1 - bfinance

Declines 'modest' due to current state of market

While most multi-asset managers lost money in an "extremely testing" Q1, average declines were relatively modest and certain strategies delivered impressive capital preservation, according to bfinance.

Analysis from the investment research firm said it was unsurprising that during the "dismal period", the multi-asset sector delivered on average negative performance. However, it added many of the losses (see Fig. 1, below) could be viewed as "rather modest" in a quarter where the MSCI World index lost more than a fifth of its value. Q1 also saw investment grade credit fall by 7%, almost all commodities lose value, losses across the board in the hedge fund space and a 7% drop in absolute return fixed income, which is often sought explicitly for its "resilience". Diversifying strate...