Endowus August 2026 Portfolio Performance Review

Endowus Core-Flagship Cash/SRS Portfolio

The 100% Equity Portfolio rose 2.7% in August, outperforming the broader equity market by 0.9%.

• Global equities rebounded in August, driven primarily by robust corporate earnings and resilient economic data. Notably, materials stocks led the rebound, as commodities rose during the month, driven by rising agricultural prices due to unfavourable weather conditions caused by El Niño. Investor confidence in technology stocks improved as both semiconductor and software stocks rallied. Overall, global equities gained 1.8% in August, though this came with heightened volatility towards the end of the month as concerns over elevated inflation and equity valuations mounted.
• The Flagship Cash/SRS 100% Equity rose 2.7% in August, outperforming global equity. The Portfolio’s outperformance was driven by its tilt towards small cap stocks, as well as its overweight to emerging market and Japan stocks.
• Within the Portfolio, the Dimensional Pacific Basin Small Companies Fund was the best performer during the month, delivering a 6.7% gain. The Fund’s robust performance was driven by its overweight to Japan small cap stocks. In contrast, the Amundi Prime USA Fund gained 1.9% and was the weakest performer. The Fund passively tracks the US index.

The 100% Fixed Income Portfolio delivered flat returns in August, slightly outperforming the broader fixed income market.

• Treasury yields generally rose across August as inflation remained elevated. Notably, the 30-year reached a multi year high, before falling after the US Treasury announced that it would double its buyback operations of longer dated US Treasuries. However, hawkish comments from the Fed Chair at the annual Jackson Hole symposium drove shorter end yields higher. Credit outperformed government bonds, as investment grade credit spreads were unchanged, while high yield credit spreads narrowed. Overall, global bonds declined by 0.1% in August.
• The Flagship Cash/SRS 100% Fixed Income Portfolio was flat in August, slightly outperforming the broader fixed income market. The Portfolio’s overweight to emerging market bonds supported relative performance, though some of these gains were offset due to its passive exposure to the fixed income market via the Amundi Core Global Aggregate Bond Fund.
• Within the Portfolio, the PIMCO GIS Emerging Markets Bond Fund gained 0.7% during the month and was the best-performing Fund. Performance was driven by its focus on emerging market bonds, which benefitted from spread compression. On the other hand, the Amundi Core Global Aggregate Bond Fund was the weakest performer, declining 0.2%. The Fund passively tracks the broad fixed income index.

Endowus Core-Flagship CPF Portfolio

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The 100% Equity Portfolio gained 2.3% in August, outperforming the global equity benchmark by 0.5%.

• The CPF 100% Equity Portfolio outperformed the global equity market due to its overweight to small cap and emerging market equities. 
• Within the Portfolio, the Dimensional Emerging Markets Large Cap Core Equity III Fund was the best performer, ending the month with a 5.0% gain. The Fund benefitted from its focus on emerging market equities. On the other hand, the Amundi Index MSCI World Fund was the weakest performer, ending the month with a 1.6% gain. The Fund passively tracks the developed market equity index.

The 100% Fixed Income Portfolio fell 0.2% in August, underperforming the global fixed income market by 0.1%.

• The CPF 100% Fixed Income Portfolio’s performance was mainly weighed down by its passive exposure to the fixed income market via the Amundi Core Global Aggregate Bond Fund, the weakest performer, down 0.2%. 
• A greenshoot was the Portfolio’s allocation to short duration bonds via the United SGD Fund, which was flat. 

Endowus Income Portfolios

The Stable Income Portfolio gained 0.2% in August, outperforming the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Credit Index. 

• The Portfolio outperformed the broader credit market due to its shorter duration and tilt towards emerging markets. Furthermore, with the exception of the PineBridge Asia Pacific Investment Grade Bond Fund, all of the Portfolio’s underlying funds outperformed the broader credit market in August, highlighting the effectiveness of the funds’ active management.
• The Neuberger Berman Short Duration Emerging Market Debt Fund was the strongest performer within the portfolio, ending the month up 0.4% by benefitting from tightening EM credit spreads. On the other hand, the PineBridge Asia Pacific Investment Grade Bond Fund was flat, and was the weakest performer due to credit selection. 

The Endowus Higher Income Portfolio rose 0.9% in August, outperforming the 20-80 equity-fixed income composite benchmark.

• At 80% of the Portfolio, the fixed income sleeve reflects the positive performance of Stable Income, with some additional outperformance driven by its tilt towards high yield bonds. High yield bond exposure via the Barings Global High Yield Bond Fund (+0.7%) and Robeco QI Dynamic High Yield Fund (+0.6%) saw stronger performance during the month due to high yield credit spreads tightening.
• The 20% equity sleeve within the Portfolio outperformed the broader equity market, as the underlying dividend paying equity funds registered robust performance. Notably, the UBS US Total Yield Fund delivered a strong 4.0% gain, though overall performance was weighed down by the Portfolio’s real assets exposure via the BlackRock BSF Global Real Assets Securities Fund, which fell 1.1%.

The Endowus Future Income Portfolio advanced by 1.1% in August, outperforming the 40-60 equity-fixed income composite benchmark.

• The 60% fixed income sleeve outperformed the global credit market, tracking the performance of the Stable Income Portfolio.
• As for the 40% equity sleeve, it outperformed the broader equity market, driven mainly by the GMO Quality Investment Fund which delivered a robust 3.4% gain due to its overweight to software stocks, as well as the FSSA Dividend Advantage Fund, which rose 3.2% on the back of the good performance of Asia-Pacific equities.

Latest portfolio update:

In September 2025, we revised the target payout of the Higher Income Portfolio downwards to 5–6%. The increase in hedging costs between the SGD and USD has caused certain fund managers to lower their payouts, impacting overall payout levels across all three Income Portfolios. This specifically caused the Higher Income Portfolio's payout yield to dip below its prior target range. In light of the prevailing interest rate cycle, we believe it is prudent to maintain this lower target payout range.

Investment-grade flexible income funds continue to generate income comparable to high-yield funds in the current environment, where high-yield credit spreads remain particularly tight. As a result, the Higher Income Portfolio's payout yield is currently similar to that of Stable Income. However, it is important to note that the Higher Income Portfolio has delivered stronger growth in total return than Stable Income, thanks to its prudent addition of credit and equity risk. This means that after receiving income distributions, investors in the Higher Income Portfolio have seen a stronger increase in their invested capital.

In line with our commitment to continuously improve the portfolios, we have made targeted fund selection upgrades to the Higher Income Portfolio in June 2026. These changes replace a number of funds with higher-quality alternatives that we believe will deliver better risk-adjusted total returns over time, while maintaining the same target payout of 5–6% per annum and the same overall asset allocation (80% fixed income, 20% equities). For more detailed information on the portfolio change, please refer to this article. Portfolio statistics from July 2026 onwards for Higher Income Portfolio will reflect the latest allocation post recommended portfolio changes. 

Endowus Cash Smart Portfolios

Cash Smart Secure continued to generate stable returns in August.

• The Cash Smart Secure Portfolio maintained its stable return profile, posting a 0.1% gain. 
• Both the underlying funds, the Fullerton SGD Cash Fund and the LionGlobal SGD Enhanced Liquidity Fund, returned 0.1%. 

Cash Smart Enhanced generated a 0.1% gain in August, driven mainly by its underlying money market funds.

• Cash Smart Enhanced ended the month with a 0.1% gain. Performance was supported by the two money market funds, Fullerton SGD Cash Fund and the LionGlobal SGD Enhanced Liquidity Fund, which returned 0.1%.
• Some of the Portfolio’s positive performance was offset by its exposure to short duration bonds via the United SGD Fund, which delivered flat returns during the month.

Similar to Cash Smart Enhanced, Cash Smart Ultra rose 0.1%, with performance driven mainly by its underlying money market funds.

• Similar to Cash Smart Enhanced, Cash Smart Ultra’s gain of 0.1% was contributed mainly by the underlying Fullerton SGD Cash Fund and the LionGlobal SGD Enhanced Liquidity Fund.
• Performance of the short duration bond funds were largely flat and weighed on the Portfolio’s overall performance.

Please note: There has been a change in the benchmark due to the discontinuation of the 3-month SIBOR. The new benchmarks feature higher returns than SIBOR, but our Cash Smart Portfolios have tended to outperform them across some periods.

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