Savings vs multi-asset

Savings accounts can offer 100% capital guarantee and ease of access. However, if interest rates are low, or are being outpaced by inflation, savers could be in a tight spot and have to make their money work harder to generate a real return. Holding or moving to cash will help avoid short-term stock market volatility, but it means you will lose out on any potential market gains over the long term. As you can see in the return example, multi-asset funds stack up well when it comes to returns over a long time period.

Savings

For short-term goals, the general rule is to save into cash deposits, like bank accounts

2020

$50,000

Interested in savings account

2025

$57,295

Annualised rate of return of 2.76%

Multi-asset

For longer-term goals, you may want to consider investing with multi-asset funds because inflation can seriously affect the value of cash savings over the long term.

2020

$50,000

Global multi-asset portfolio
(for illustrative purposes only)

2025

$70,779

Annualised rate of return of 7.20%

Discrete performance (%) 01/05/2020
- 30/04/2021		 01/05/2021
- 30/04/2022		 01/05/2022
- 30/04/2023		 01/05/2023
- 30/04/2024		 01/05/2024
- 30/04/2025
MA Portfolio - USD 25.40 -5.73 -0.60 9.30 10.22
USTREAS Federal Funds 0.08 0.11 3.24 5.50  5.00

Global multi-asset portfolio (USD) included Global bonds (35%): Bloomberg Global Aggregate. Global equities (50%): MSCI ACWI Property (10%) S&P Global Property. Alternatives (3%): HFRX GLE. Cash (2%) USTREAS Federal Funds. Rebased in US dollars where appropriate, i.e. all index returns are recalculated based on exchange rates to give returns for a dollar investor. Source: Morningstar Direct, 5 years to 30 April 2025.


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Savings AND multi-asset funds

We believe that over the long term, investing and saving can complement one another. For many people, this combination is potentially a way to achieve their long-term financial goals. And if you do decide to invest remember one thing above all: diversification can help spread the risk to your capital. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of your investment and any income can go down as well as up and you may not get back what they originally invested. Fund charges that would be payable are not included and when included would have the effect of reducing the performance shown.

Using multi-asset funds to get started

If you are considering a longer-term investment of five years or more, and are comfortable with the risks involved, then the next step might be deciding how to get started in investing. Learning the pros and cons of the world’s various markets and assets can be time-consuming and difficult. That’s why many people leave these decisions to experts. One solution could be to opt to invest in a multi-asset fund. At AXA IM Select, we are experts in multi-asset, and we believe there are many benefits to investing in a multi-asset fund:

Multi-asset funds can provide investors with exposure to a broad range of asset types. You can further increase this ‘diversification’ by blending geographies and sectors.

Asset classes don’t tend to all fall in value at the same time. So multi-asset investors are, to some extent, more insulated from the highs and lows of individual asset markets.

Generally, multi-asset investing comprises complex asset allocation decisions supported by risk reduction strategies by a team of experts who collaborate to search for the best mix for your investments.

Selecting a multi-asset fund that matches your attitude to risk can be a good tool to help investors achieve their financial outcomes while ensuring they do not take on more risk than they are comfortable with.

And finally, multi-asset funds package a diversified, complex portfolio balancing risk and reward, but presented in a simple-to-understand way.

Why Multi-Asset Investing Makes Sense Podcast

AXA IM Select’s Lorna Denny sat down with Colin Graham from Robeco, to provide a clearer idea of what multi-asset investing means and why it can make sense for investors to build a balanced portfolio.

The fourth in our Investment Basics podcast series, it's ideal for those starting out on their investing journey but should also prove useful for more experienced market participants. Happy listening!

 

 

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