LCI Monthly Strategy Review August 2026
Performance Overview
August was a risk-on month with a very narrow leadership profile. Asian equities did the work — Korea alone returned +15.5% in CHF terms and Japan added close to +4% — while the US contributed steadily and Europe, Switzerland, Brazil and India all finished in the red. The dominant story for the active-enhanced sleeves was not equity at all but precious metals: gold gained +9.3% and silver +14.9%, pushing the Alternatives sleeve to roughly +103 bps of contribution and lifting every multi-asset and fixed-income SE book clearly above its semi-passive twin; only the three Equity SE sleeves, already fully invested, finished level.
Fixed income was quietly constructive, with EM sovereigns, high yield and cat bonds positive against a drag from European investment-grade credit. Currency was the swing factor by reference currency: the Swiss franc weakened, the euro strengthened, and the dollar was broadly neutral.
Performance - August 2026
Semi-Passive (S) | Active-Enhanced (SE)
| Semi-Passive (S) | Active-Enhanced (SE) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy | Month | vs Bench | Strategy | Month | vs Bench | |
| LCI Fixed Income CHF S | +0.24% | +18 bps | LCI Fixed Income CHF SE | +1.22% | +117 bps | |
| LCI Yield CHF S | +0.81% | -12 bps | LCI Yield CHF SE | +1.54% | +62 bps | |
| LCI Balanced CHF S | +1.37% | -32 bps | LCI Balanced CHF SE | +1.86% | +17 bps | |
| LCI Growth CHF S | +1.94% | +5 bps | LCI Growth CHF SE | +2.18% | +30 bps | |
| LCI Equity CHF S | +2.50% | -23 bps | LCI Equity CHF SE | +2.50% | -23 bps | |
| LCI Fixed Income EUR S | +0.03% | -7 bps | LCI Fixed Income EUR SE | +0.93% | +82 bps | |
| LCI Yield EUR S | +0.52% | +38 bps | LCI Yield EUR SE | +1.19% | +104 bps | |
| LCI Balanced EUR S | +1.01% | -52 bps | LCI Balanced EUR SE | +1.45% | -8 bps | |
| LCI Growth EUR S | +1.50% | -75 bps | LCI Growth EUR SE | +1.71% | -54 bps | |
| LCI Equity EUR S | +1.98% | -63 bps | LCI Equity EUR SE | +1.97% | -64 bps | |
| LCI Fixed Income USD S | +0.44% | +6 bps | LCI Fixed Income USD SE | +1.37% | +99 bps | |
| LCI Yield USD S | +0.99% | -50 bps | LCI Yield USD SE | +1.69% | +20 bps | |
| LCI Balanced USD S | +1.53% | -73 bps | LCI Balanced USD SE | +2.00% | -26 bps | |
| LCI Growth USD S | +2.07% | -68 bps | LCI Growth USD SE | +2.31% | -44 bps | |
| LCI Equity USD S | +2.61% | -61 bps | LCI Equity USD SE | +2.63% | -59 bps | |
Returns in reference currency. Positive figures in green, negative in red. Source: La Côte Invest.
YTD Cushions
Absolute YTD spans -0.36% (LCI Fixed Income CHF S) to +14.52% (LCI Equity EUR S). Relative YTD spans -345 bps (LCI Equity USD SE) to +332 bps (LCI Equity EUR S).
The pattern is worth stating plainly: on a year-to-date basis the semi-passive S sleeve is ahead of its SE twin in 12 of the 15 pairings — every multi-asset and equity book. Equity EUR S carries the largest cushion over peers at +332 bps, with Equity CHF S +315 bps and Growth CHF S +297 bps close behind, and Fixed Income CHF S is +181 bps ahead of a peer group still down -2.17% for the year.
Against that, several SE sleeves sit well behind peers — Equity USD SE at -345 bps, Yield USD SE -195 bps, Growth USD SE -183 bps and Balanced USD SE -178 bps — because the gold and defence positions that are winning now were a drag earlier in the year. The three exceptions run the other way: in fixed income the SE sleeve beats both its S twin and its peer group in all three currencies (+233, +150 and +11 bps), the Alternatives satellite doing exactly what it was added to do in a low-return bond environment.
Best Performer / Worst Performer
Best: Amundi MSCI Korea UCITS ETF, +15.5% in CHF (+15.1% USD, +14.4% EUR). It is a 2.0% line in the Balanced books and 4.0% in Equity, so on a 4% weight it delivered roughly 60 bps of contribution on its own. Silver was a close second at +14.9% in CHF on a 2.0% weight, and gold +9.3% on 8.0% was the single largest contributor in absolute terms across the SE sleeves.
Worst: the newly bought SPX put spread at -36.6%, which is expected behaviour for a freshly struck option position in a rising market and cost roughly 13 bps. Of the cash positions, the Amundi STOXX Europe Defence ETF was weakest at -2.9% in CHF (-3.7% EUR), followed by iShares MSCI Brazil at -1.7% CHF and the European investment-grade credit lines, which detracted across every CHF and EUR book.
FX Impact
CHF books: +2 to +21 bps
EUR books: -53 to -6 bps
USD books: -1 to +8 bps
The franc weakened over the month, so CHF-referenced books picked up between +2 and +21 bps from unhedged EUR and USD exposure, partly given back on yen. The euro was the strong currency and EUR books paid for it — Equity EUR S lost -53 bps, with USD -28 bps and JPY -17 bps the main culprits. USD books were close to neutral: a positive EUR translation offset a negative yen contribution, leaving -1 to +8 bps. Fixed Income USD S, being fully hedged into dollars, shows no FX effect at all.
Portfolio Changes
One trade this cycle, applied uniformly across the active-enhanced range: a lookback put spread on the S&P 500, 95%-80%, expiring 20/27.11.2026, funded by trimming the existing S&P 500 ETF holding by the same notional. It was added to 12 of the 15 SE sleeves — every Yield, Balanced, Growth and Equity SE book in all three currencies. The three Fixed Income SE sleeves were untouched, as they hold no equity to hedge.
Position sizes scale with the equity weight: 0.18% in Yield, 0.36% in Balanced, 0.53% in Growth and 0.71% in Equity. All 15 semi-passive S sleeves were left unchanged, as designed.
Editorial Note
Two things are worth watching. First, the SE sleeves have now had the month they were built for — gold and silver more than covered the cost of the defence and hedging positions, and 8 of the 15 SE books beat their benchmark in August against only 4 of 15 on the S side. That does not reverse the year-to-date picture, where the S sleeves remain ahead in 12 of the 15 pairings — but it is a month where the satellite earned its place rather than costing it.
Second, buying downside protection in a month when equities rose is a positioning statement: we are willing to give up a little carry to cap the tail into November. If the market keeps grinding higher the put spread will look like a cost; if Q4 turns, it is the difference between a drawdown and a dent. Korea’s +15.5% is also a reminder that a 2-4% satellite line can move a whole book — that concentration cuts both ways and the position deserves a review before year-end.
