Over the long term (seven years or more) the Balanced Growth Portfolio has earned an investment return higher than inflation but has missed the target level of 5.5%. The main reason for missing this target has been the underwhelming performance of South African equities, which is where a significant portion of the portfolio is invested.

Shorter-term returns (up to five years) have delivered stronger returns. Don’t pay too much attention to these outcomes – they could just as easily have been poor. Over short periods, markets are driven by current events, supply and demand, and the news flow or ‘noise’ in investment markets. These day-to-day events are unpredictable, as is their impact on market performance.