SRI 16% Portfolio Performance

US President Trump’s policy agenda has created uncertainty and growth fears in the first quarter of 2025, rattling markets. In the same period, the US stock market entered correction territory – bringing global equities down 1%. Meanwhile, assets like gold and bonds gained on safe-haven demand.

During this volatile period for assets such as global equities, returns for our flagship General Investing portfolios powered by StashAway are all positive. They’ve returned 2.4% on average in USD terms in Q1, and have also outperformed their same-risk benchmarks across all risk levels.

While the US market has struggled over the past few months, global equities outside the US have held up better – spurred by catalysts like fiscal stimulus announcements in the European Union and AI-related developments in China. Within US equities, their allocations to more defensive sectors like healthcare and consumer staples have contributed to higher returns and lower volatility.

Another key contributor to performance was these portfolios’ structural allocation to gold – which we incorporated into their benchmarks due to its long-standing role as a defensive and diversifying asset. Historically, gold has performed well in periods of market stress or macro uncertainty, often moving differently from both equities and bonds – and this past year was no exception.

Meanwhile, their bond allocations also benefited from rising prices as markets began to price in weaker growth. Steady yields from bonds on the short-end of the curve, price appreciation from the longer-end, and a weaker dollar benefiting global bonds all contributed to supporting portfolio performance – again, highlighting the importance of diversification even within asset classes.

For a deep dive into the details, here’s our full commentary.