Australian government bond yields moved higher through January, mostly reflected in the front-end, as markets materially repriced Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) policy expectations following stronger than expected December quarter inflation, with trimmed mean inflation at 3.4% y/y pushing markets to price a high probability of a February rate hike and a “higher for longer” cash rate profile.

Since inception, the Fund has generated a strong total net return of 6.59% p.a. (before franking credits), underperforming the ASX200 Accumulation index by 1.02% p.a.

The Fund, along with a range of other active managers, has been impacted by increasing volatility in the market, the “low quality” risk-on rally in the second half of 2025 and the underperformance of “quality” as a style – which has been abnormally soft.

Investment markets continue to be highly volatile with a range of significant macro themes and geopolitical events impacting returns at an asset class and sector level.

The first quarter of 2026 was volatile for Global Equities. It was notable that the best performing positions in the EQT Eight Bays Global Fund were select thematic ETFs in Energy, Technology and Industrials.