I have long said that this is the global equity fund you want to own when markets get volatile, and that point was driven home by recent market activity.
Between September 1 and October 16, the MSCI World Index dropped by nearly 6% in Canadian dollar terms. During the same period, the Ivy Foreign Equity Fund dropped a little more than 3%, or roughly 56% of the downside movement of the market. This is in line with its historic average.
The managers run a concentrated portfolio of high quality companies from around the world with strong balance sheets and excellent management teams that are trading at a reasonable valuation. They are very patient in their approach as evidenced by their low levels of portfolio turnover.
For the most recent five year period, it has aver-aged less than 20% per year. With more volatility likely in the next few quarters, those investors looking for a way to gain global equity exposure with lower volatility will want to consider this offering. One warning, given the conservative nature, it is likely to lag in rising markets.