At Forrest Private Wealth, our investment philosophy underpins our financial planning advice, which ensures our client’s wealth benefits from long-term exposure to equity markets. We believe holding a well-diversified portfolio of predominantly dividend-paying businesses over a long-term period is essential in financial planning for wealth accumulation and, ultimately, retirement planning.
By following our retirement planning process, a Forrest Private Wealth financial planner stays true to their investment advice, ignoring the noise and pressures of the market to provide their clients with a stress-free retirement. At Forrest Private Wealth, our financial planners capitalise on an investment philosophy that provides predictable income streams from equity markets, setting clients up for their desired retirement.
Long Term Portfolio
The Long Term Portfolio returned 2.34% in April, recovering ground after a soft start to the quarter as global equity markets rallied broadly. Munro Concentrated Global Growth was the standout, delivering 8.6% as quality-growth names rebounded, while Montgomery Small Companies and VanEck MSCI International Quality also posted strong gains of 6.9% and 4.6% respectively.
SGH Emerging Companies and GCQ Flagship added further support to the equity sleeve. Talaria Global Equity was the only meaningful detractor for the month at -2.8%, reflecting its value bias in a growth-led rally, while Ausbil Global Essential Infrastructure gave back a modest -0.4% after a strong run. The private credit and alternative income holdings, Aura and MA Priority Income, each delivered their typical 0.7%, providing dependable ballast.
Short Term Portfolio
The Short Term Portfolio returned 0.45% in April, again edging ahead of its cash benchmark and continuing to deliver steady, predictable income with minimal volatility.
Perpetual Diversified Income led contributors with 0.9%, followed by MA Priority Income and MA Secured Real Estate Income, both at 0.7%, as private credit and secured lending strategies continued to capture their structural yield premium. La Trobe added another reliable 0.5%, while Western Asset was the sole laggard at 0.1% as duration-sensitive bonds saw modest headwinds amid shifting rate expectations.
Over the past year the model has returned 4.69%, comfortably ahead of the RBA Cash Rate at 3.84%, with the three-year annualised return of 5.81% reinforcing that a disciplined tilt to high-quality credit continues to reward investors well above cash.
Micro Cap Report
The Micro Cap Portfolio returned 4.34% in April, a strong rebound month for a strategy that sits at the riskiest end of the equity spectrum.
Ophir Global High Conviction was the clear standout, returning 10.7% and reaffirming its position as the engine of the global sleeve, with a 1-year return of 23.9% and 3-year annualised return of 21.6%. Montgomery Small Companies added 6.9% and SGH Emerging Companies 4.5%, both benefiting from improving sentiment toward Australian small caps, while Eley Griffiths contributed a further 4.0%.
Bennelong Emerging Companies was the lone detractor at -0.4%. The three-month return of -5.93% reflects the magnitude of the earlier sell-off, but the one-year return of 9.11% and three-year annualised return of 10.79% continue to demonstrate the long-term compounding potential of this strategy for investors with the appropriate risk tolerance.
Forrest Private Wealth’s discipline in providing financial planning, retirement planning, and wealth management services to its clients allows our clients to benefit from years of experience providing financial advice through major impacts to equity markets where staying the course has helped them.
Forrest Private Wealth has a dedicated team of financial planners and support staff providing clients with peace of mind in working towards and achieving their life goals.