Paragon Funds Management - The Song Remains the Same

In our January outlook note for 2016, we outlined several significant issues facing investors. The strong US dollar and tepid growth pressuring US corporate earnings and commodity prices (namely oil) was leading to distress in high yield credit markets in conjunction with the ever present worries over the Chinese economy. As a counterbalance, we said that markets were likely testing their lower bounds given economic growth globally was still registering a heartbeat, interest rates remained supportive and that low oil was a boon for the global consumer. Today, the US dollar has fallen with dovish tones from the US Federal Reserve, oil has almost doubled off the lows, and the S&P 500 is 1% away from reaching all-time highs. Despite the volatility, the Fund has maintained a relatively high level of equity market exposure and to date has delivered a +20% net return for CY2016 and +29% net return for FY16. Our latest monthly provides further insight into the shift in our stock and sector exposure over the last year which has helped deliver our strong results.