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March 2024 Update
Welcome to the monthly update of the Ashburton Jersey Schools Investment Challenge, which is now at the halfway stage.
Spring is in the air and global equity markets continued their merry way in March that also capped a strong first quarter of returns. Despite the prospect of higher for longer interest rates, equities focused on the positive economic and corporate backdrop that drove not only large cap US tech stocks, but also a broader range of stocks that included energy, materials and financials.
This quarter, those student managers with a focus on technology and cryptocurrency holdings found these benefited their overall performance. Notably, the first quarter average student portfolio performance was 14%, exceeding the FTSE World Equity Index’s 9.80% return by a considerable margin.
From the 25 portfolios in the competition, the standout performance remained with ACLLE from Highlands College, who retains top spot with an impressive 41% gain in the value of its portfolio this year, helped by chip company Nvidia and small-cap medical device company Sensus Healthcare. The rally in crypto assets during the month meant that GS from De La Salle College was the best performing portfolio with an impressive 11.93% gain in March and they now lie in second place. Its holdings in Coinbase and Robinhood helped to power returns. In third place is Market Maestros from Beaulieu Convent School which was also the second- best team for the month at almost 8%. Nvidia and Exxon were its best performers for the month.
In the Schools League, De La Salle sits top for the second month, and they have three of their teams in the top ten. Competition remains tight with 1.58% separating the top three schools. With questions being asked as regards to the sustainability of the equity market rally, it will be interesting to see how this impacts the portfolios in the weeks ahead.
Whilst the outlook remains uncertain, for those seeking investment opportunities outside of this Schools Challenge, Ashburton Investments may well be your port in stormy waters.
To find out more, go to: https://www.ashburtoninvestments.com/int/investmentchallenge
