Investments

Life stage (default)

The fund applies a life stage model which automatically takes members through different investment portfolios i.e. aggressive to more conservative portfolios as they near retirement age. The life stages are as follows:

Members younger than age 55 - Aggressive Growth portfolio
Members age 55 and older, but younger than age 62 -Capital Growth portfolio
Members age 62 and older - Stable Growth portfolio

The fund has implemented a phasing-in approach for default switches. Read more

The first 25% switch to the new recommended portfolio will commence at the end of a member’s birthday month. As a result, it will take 12 months for a total portfolio switch to be completed. After the 12 month phase-in period, all future member contributions will automatically accrue to the new default life stage portfolio. See an illustration of a default switch from the Aggressive Growth portfolio to the Capital Growth portfolio below.

*The first 25% switch to the new recommended portfolio will commence at thee end of a member's birthday month.

Member investment choice

The fund also allows flexibility in providing our members with the option to elect any of the individual investment portfolio options available.
Investment switch form

Aggressive Growth Portfolio

Investment objective: To maximise capital growth over a long-term investment horizon. Members should acknowledge that this strategy could deliver volatile and negative returns over the short-term. This strategy is suitable for members with more than 10 years to retirement.

Capital Growth Portfolio

Investment objective: :To target capital growth over a medium to long-term investment horizon. Members should acknowledge that this strategy could deliver volatile and negative returns over the short-term. This strategy is suitable for members with 5 to 10 years to retirement.

Stable Growth Portfolio

Investment objective: To target stable returns over a medium-term investment horizon with low volatility and a low probability of negative returns. This strategy is suitable for members with 1 to 5 years to retirement.

Capital Protector Portfolio

Investment objective: To provide capital security with very low volatility and an extremely low probability of negative returns. This strategy is suitable for members with less than 1 year to retirement where capital protection is absolutely necessary

Shari’ah portfolio

This portfolio is suitable for Muslim investors requiring a Sharia-compliant investment portfolio. The portfolio will be invested in a variety of domestic and international asset classes. The underlying investments will comply with Shari'ah requirements as prescribed by the Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions. The portfolio targets capital growth over the long-term while limiting short term market fluctuations.

Latest investment returns

Economic Commentary: July 2026

The second half of the year began with investors carefully scrutinising the trajectory of AI spending and the profitability of technology company as earnings season gets into full swing. Geopolitical fears remain with renewed conflict in the Middle East and an escalation in the Russia- Ukraine war driving up oil prices and reigniting inflation fears.

The US economy grew at a sluggish 1.5% pace in Q2 as rising imports weighed on growth, yet consumer and business spending remained robust, growing at 3.2% and 8.4%, respectively, with the latter driven by continued AI-infrastructure spending. Headline inflation rose a lower-than- expected 3.5% in June, down from 4.2% in May, as the sharp decline in energy prices offset small increases in the price of food and shelter. Core inflation, the Fed’s preferred measure, dipped to 2.6%, providing some hope that the Federal Reserve would reduce interest rates. That hope quickly faded as the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged at their month-end meeting. The change in voting from unanimous at the last meeting to three members voting for a rate hike at the July meeting signalled a shift in the monetary policy committee’s thinking as the resurgence in oil prices upended price pressure dynamics once again. Labour, consumption and financial market conditions indicate that monetary policy is not restraining the economy, and the MPC members are worried that, without any policy restraint, inflation will likely continue to trend above target. While the job market remains resilient, with employers adding 92000 jobs a month on average, consumer confidence remains low as Americans are frustrated about the high cost of living ahead of the midterm elections, now less than 100 days away.

Global equity market returns diverged in July as markets heavily exposed to AI equipment manufacturers (such as South Korea, Taiwan) suffered large losses while more traditional industrial and financial markets like the UK and Germany fared well. The MSCI World Index gained just 0.5% for the month as a 6.5% gain in financials stocks and a 2.4% gain in consumer staples stocks offset a 4% decline in information technology stocks. Energy stocks surged 13% as oil prices spiked to $100 per barrel on a flare-up in the US-Iran war. US markets lagged the diversified global market index with the S&P500 ending flat for the month and the NASDAQ declining 6.6% as the largest decline in semiconductor stocks since the global financial crisis, and large declines in Apple, Tesla and Alphabet, offset gains in Microsoft, Amazon and other cloud-related platforms. The collapse of the highly leveraged AI-focused hedge fund, Situational Awareness, may partly be responsible for the elevated volatility in the sector, although fundamental investors will attribute the sell-off to the fact that returns have thus far been elusive from the hundreds of billions of dollars being poured into building AI infrastructure. US industrials and mid-caps declined along with the AI plays with the Russell 2000 index and the S&P Industrials Index both losing 3%. Emerging markets meanwhile declined 3% in July as large losses in South Korea and Taiwan (-17% and - 5%, respectively) offset large gains in Colombia and Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong. Global bonds shed 0.5% as higher US yields pushed global yields higher, while global property stocks gained 2.8% for the month as, despite a choppy macroeconomic environment and fluctuating Treasury yields, solid operational gains and disciplined balance sheets have kept investor confidence high.

In South Africa, major economic releases in July revealed slow growth and a surge in inflation. Inflation jumped to 5% in June, from 4.5% in May, as elevated oil prices drove transport inflation higher. The SARB surprisingly kept interest rates unchanged (a hike was widely expected) stating that the committee’s job was to balance a fragile economic growth environment against headline inflation risks. According to the SARB's Quarterly Projection Model, headline inflation is expected to stay above 4% until early 2027 before dropping down to the 3% target over the longer forecast horizon. With inflation remaining high and confidence low, growth in retail sales unsurprisingly dropped to just 2.3% year-on- year in May. The trade balance meanwhile surprised on the upside, with the nation recording a R17.8bn trade surplus in June thanks to an increase in exports of vehicles, chemical products, precious metals and citrus products, and a decrease in the imports of oil and vehicle components.

The local equity market outperformed global emerging markets in July thanks to gains from all major sectors. The All Share Index gained 1.2% for the month, driven by a 2.2% gain in Resources stocks as gold and copper mining companies, diversified miner Glencore, energy company Sasol and paper producer Mondi posted large gains. Industrials gained just 0.5% as large gains in Naspers and Prosus (+6% and 8%, respectively) were offset by double-digit losses in AVI and MTN and smaller losses in retailers Pick ‘n Pay, Foschini and Woolworths. Financials gained 1.2% as strength in banks offset weakness in insurers and asset management firms. The rand weakened sharply mid-month as investors were disappointed that the SARB kept interest rates unchanged but clawed back losses to end at R16.54 – 1% weaker for the month. The yield on the 10yr government bond ended the month at 8.7%, resulting in a loss of 1.4% for the All Bond Index for the month as elevated inflation and higher yields in the US forced investors to re-price risk. Listed property stocks however added 2.3% for the month, following global property markets higher as investors bet that strong fundamentals would offset potentially higher funding costs.