Market Volatility Trims Healthy First Quarter Gain – Ascenta Special Situations Resource Fund

April 23, 2012 - Ascenta Asset Management, a licensed portfolio manager and investment advisor to the Ascenta Special Situations Resource Fund, recently released their market commentary for their Special Situations Resource Fund for the month of March 2012. The market commentary is written by Jason Cubbit, Managing Director Fund Services.

“March saw an end to the recent rally as weaker economic data from China and Europe captured the market’s attention, and commodity-heavy markets including Canada’s suffered downward pressure. Meanwhile the US market continued to buck the trend with better than expected economic data. New York’s S&P 500 Index rose 3.1% in March while Toronto’s S&P TSX Composite declined 2.0%. Canadian energy stocks lost 6.9% and the materials sector lost 7.8%. This pattern continued across markets with the Commodity Index (CRB), which tracks eighteen commodities, losing 4.3%.

As part of this pull-back in commodity equities, the Ascenta Special Situations Resource Fund lost 6.18% in March. This loss, however, comes after gains in the three previous months and the Ascenta Fund recorded healthy gains for the quarter ending March 31. It out-performed the MSCI Metals and Mining index benchmark as illustrated below.

The path ahead promises plenty of opportunity for gains albeit against a backdrop of continued volatility. Indeed, since the inception of this fund in Q4 2009, we have been investing in a highly volatile environment. Institutional investors have moved in and out of equities as their attitude to risk swung like a pendulum in line with their analysis of general market conditions. Q1 2012 saw more optimism and equities began to find their way back into investor portfolios, with US economic data being a significant contributor to this sentiment. However, this has now reversed.

Guessing when that pendulum might swing back is impossible but preparing for it is necessary. Fortunately relatively low risk stocks like gold producers are still trading at historically low prices and offer a relatively safe haven. Consequently we sold some of our more illiquid small holdings and have bought into larger ones.”

About Ascenta Asset Management Ltd.

Ascenta Asset Management Ltd. is a licensed portfolio manager and the designated advisor to the Ascenta Special Situations Resource Fund. As specialists in the natural resource sector, the founders of Ascenta bring a wealth of experience in all experience in all aspects of the industry, from the founding of natural resource companies, to proprietary trading and equity financing of natural resource issuers, to originating investment themes and products for money managers, It's this diverse experience, gained over decades and across five continents that gives Ascenta a unique perspective to investing in the sector.

For more information of the Ascenta Special Situations Resource Fund, visit the website http://www.ascentainternational.com

John Morgan
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This release was published on openPR.