The Alpha Plus Fund declined 9.3% in March, underperforming the S&P/ASX200, which fell 7.1%. It was a tough and disappointing month for the fund as the surprise onset of the Mid-East conflict upended our portfolio which had been tilted towards further cyclical improvement. In addition, the conflict did not play out like other geopolitical shocks where risk aversion spikes and markets immediately gap lower. Instead, the market ground its way lower as the conflict progressed and this made it difficult to determine how defensive to become and whether doing so would then leave performance exposed to a rebound.
