OVERVIEW
AIICO Balanced Fund is an open-ended mutual fund, investing in Fixed income instruments, Money market instruments and both Quoted and Unquoted equities.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The investment objective of the Fund is to create medium to long term capital growth as well as yearly income streams from declared dividends for unit holders. The fund also provides investors with the opportunity diversify their investments into products that would hitherto have been more difficult to invest in.
FUND PERFORMANCE
The AIICO balanced fund was relatively positive with a return of 2.58% for the month under review, a significant improvement from 0.85% in November.
In December, the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NGX ASI) lost 1.23% month-on-month, to settle at 42,716.44 points, while the market year-to-date stood at 6.09%. Trading activity was largely tepid except for market cross transactions witnessed across the board as investors closed out the year.
Bullish sentiments prevailed in the NTB secondary market, with trading activity skewed toward CBN special notes and long-dated NTB papers. Overall, the average rate declined by ca. 8 bps month-on-month to 4.32%. The stop rates for the 91-day and 182-day papers were held at 2.49% and 3.45%, respectively, at the recent Primary Market Auction (PMA), while the 364-day paper fell by 10 bps to settle at 4.90%.
Finally, the FGN bond secondary market was relatively calm, albeit with a bearish trace. Overall, the average yield marginally reduced by ca.1 bp, month-on-month, to 11.55%.
