Sterling-denominated portfolios even lost more money than Q3 2008 and indeed every other quarter since ARC designed their private client indices (PCI) in December 2003.
The ARC Sterling Cautious PCI lost 3.7% in the three months to September; its Balanced Asset returned -6.8%; -8.9% was the fall in the Steady Growth PCI; the largest drop was -11.8% from the Equity Risk index.
To put this into context, the MSCI World Index fell by 14.1% and including emerging market countries in the MSCI All World Index this falls to -15.2%.
The year-to-date figures are slightly better but are all still in negative territory, with figures of -0.8%, -3%, -3.8% and -5.4% respectively.
“Across 2011, drawdowns have increased markedly as the European sovereign debt crisis has unfolded, currently standing at around 12% for Sterling Equity Risk mandates,” said Graham Harrison, ARC’s chief executive.
“But drawdowns remain well below the levels experienced in the depths of the credit crunch.”
He added that the cumulative returns, on a rolling 12-month basis, have scarcely moved into negative territory across any of the indices.
“In this context,” Harrison added, “The elevated levels of loss experienced in Q3 2011 have served only to reverse gains banked in the previous four quarters. However, investors remain significantly ahead of where they were at the beginning of 2009 when the credit crunch moved into its final phases.”
