Brummer Multi-Strategy UCITS monthly commentary March 2026
Brummer Multi-Strategy UCITS (Inst. Inception Class USD) posted a return of -1.2 per cent in March, bringing year to date performance to 2.4 per cent.
Markets
March was dominated by the war in Iran and its corresponding economic fallout which has fundamentally altered the macroeconomic outlook and triggered an energy crisis with far reaching ramifications.
Commodity markets saw a significant spike in volatility, unsurprisingly because of the chokehold Iran holds on the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on petroleum facilities in neighbouring countries. Given that approximately 20-25% of global seaborne oil and natural gas exports passes through the Strait, crude oil futures spiked well over $100/barrel, reaching its highest levels since the invasion of Ukraine and triggering an energy crisis. With many economies relying on importing energy that passes through the Strait, the effects could very well be crippling in the long term. Impacted by the asset class-wide sell-off, precious metals such as gold and silver, which have previously experienced historic rallies, saw a rather steady drop in prices over the month.
Equity markets sold off with some indices seeing close to double-digit drops (e.g. Korea), while US indices like the S&P 500 closed the month down 5%. Under the surface, however, markets have seen significant deleveraging and factor rotations within crowded sectors such as in the AI space with previous winners such as semiconductors reversing, while software rallied.
Bond markets followed suit, as the immediate inflationary pressure and subsequent sell-off caused a spike in government bond yields particularly in the short end in Europe. In the US, markets priced in a more prolonged period of restrictive policy, with expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts pushed out to summer 2027, compared to expectations for June easing just weeks earlier.
FX markets moved largely sideways, with the US Dollar strengthening somewhat on the back of anticipations of tighter fiscal policy from the Federal Reserve.
Brummer Multi-Strategy UCITS
BMS UCITS proved resilient in March given the market turmoil and sell-off across asset classes.
Systematic macro performed well in March, with short positioning in equity indices and fixed income more than outweighing less favourable FX positioning.
Systematic trend following detracted marginally. In developed markets losses came primarily in Asian equity indices while FX and fixed income contributed somewhat positively. Trend following in alternative markets detracted marginally as modest gains in commodities were outweighed by losses, predominantly in fixed income, but also in equity indices, credit and FX.
Market neutral long/short equity also detracted in March with the rapid deleveraging in the US tech space being particularly painful. Other sectors within the long/short equity part of the portfolio have been more resilient and profitable. Strategies focused on less crowded sectors and regions, including European healthcare and real estate, have generally performed well.
Return
| Last month | Year to date | |
|---|---|---|
| Brummer Multi-Strategy UCITS (Inst. Inception) USD | -1.2% | +2.4% |
Monthly contribution by strategy type (est.)
Capital allocation (est.)*
* Allocation per strategy tpe is shown as percentage of total allocated capital. Brummer Multi-Strategy may use leverage and/or allocate to strategies targeting higher volatility than their reference strategy, which means that the total allocated capital can vary over time and be higher than the fund's net asset value.
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