Pension funds rebound in H1

Pension funds, which are predominantly invested offshore, endured a trying 2022 with much of the losses associated with downtrends in global giants such as Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google, the global tech giants.

The situation was mirrored at the Bank of Botswana where the pula value of the foreign reserves took a beating on the global bond market, where returns sank to three times worse than their all-time low.

The central bank’s losses were however unrealised as it largely held onto its investments. Local pension funds, however, have turned the tide with their collective assets reaching P124.4 billion by March, then ending out the first six months of the year at P130.5 billion.

Global markets have largely held steady this year, while returns on local government bonds have continued a general upswing. The Botswana Stock Exchange, the primary vehicle for pension funds’ local investments, has enjoyed a strong year with growth of 4.2 percent in the first six months, compared to 2.5 percent over the same period last year.

The local bourse has accelerated since then and by Tuesday, was up nearly 12% since the beginning of the year.