Global equities lift Debswana's P7bn pension fund

The Debswana Pension Fund (DPF) has more than 12,000 members and holds about P7 billion in assets locally and offshore through 10 fund managers.  The assets include local cash, local and offshore equities, property, local and offshore bonds, African private equity and emerging market equities.

According to statements the DPF shared with members this week, global equities cancelled out losses from a downturn in local equities, where the Botswana Stock Exchange continues to shed value, led by several heavyweight counters. The DPF’s global equities portfolio gained 10.6% in the quarter to June 30, and over 36 months to June 30, 2018, had gained 10.4%. “The worst performing asset class was local equities which posted a return of -0.11%, but the Fund managed to outperform the benchmark with a negative return of -2.18,” the DPF reported.