LCI Monthly Strategy Review July 2026
Performance Overview
July 2026 was a modestly negative month in reference-currency terms for the multi-asset and fixed-income books but a broadly positive one for the equity books, and a strong month on a relative basis across the whole range: 25 of the 30 strategies finished ahead of their benchmark. Equities did the heavy lifting — European, UK and Latin American exposures led, powered by the Amundi Stoxx Europe Defense ETF and EM names (Indonesia, Brazil), while Asia Pacific (a sharp fall in the Korea position) was the standout detractor everywhere. Fixed income was a broad drag, with USD corporate bonds the single largest weight on the bond books. The active-enhanced (SE) sleeves outperformed their semi-passive (S) counterparts in every family, helped by the European-equity tilt and, on the SE books, the Precious Metals / Private Equity satellite.
Performance - July 2026
Semi-Passive (S) | Active-Enhanced (SE)
| Semi-Passive (S) | Active-Enhanced (SE) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy | Month | vs Bench | YTD | vs Bench | Strategy | Month | vs Bench | YTD | vs Bench | |
| LCI Fixed Income CHF S | -0.83% | +48 bps | -0.59% | +163 bps | LCI Fixed Income CHF SE | -0.53% | +78 bps | -1.05% | +118 bps | |
| LCI Yield CHF S | -0.58% | +78 bps | +2.31% | +95 bps | LCI Yield CHF SE | -0.22% | +113 bps | +1.18% | -18 bps | |
| LCI Balanced CHF S | -0.33% | +2 bps | +5.23% | +116 bps | LCI Balanced CHF SE | +0.08% | +43 bps | +3.42% | -65 bps | |
| LCI Growth CHF S | -0.08% | +106 bps | +8.17% | +286 bps | LCI Growth CHF SE | +0.39% | +152 bps | +5.66% | +35 bps | |
| LCI Equity CHF S | +0.17% | +95 bps | +11.12% | +331 bps | LCI Equity CHF SE | +0.69% | +147 bps | +7.92% | +11 bps | |
| LCI Fixed Income EUR S | -0.66% | +7 bps | +0.96% | +149 bps | LCI Fixed Income EUR SE | -0.51% | +22 bps | +0.15% | +68 bps | |
| LCI Yield EUR S | -0.60% | +6 bps | +3.79% | +80 bps | LCI Yield EUR SE | -0.37% | +29 bps | +2.30% | -69 bps | |
| LCI Balanced EUR S | -0.54% | -8 bps | +6.63% | +260 bps | LCI Balanced EUR SE | -0.23% | +23 bps | +4.45% | +42 bps | |
| LCI Growth EUR S | -0.48% | -8 bps | +9.46% | +275 bps | LCI Growth EUR SE | -0.09% | +32 bps | +6.60% | -12 bps | |
| LCI Equity EUR S | -0.42% | -12 bps | +12.29% | +392 bps | LCI Equity EUR SE | +0.06% | +36 bps | +8.74% | +38 bps | |
| LCI Fixed Income USD S | -0.90% | -38 bps | +0.23% | -4 bps | LCI Fixed Income USD SE | -0.55% | -2 bps | -0.60% | -87 bps | |
| LCI Yield USD S | -0.52% | +22 bps | +2.79% | -65 bps | LCI Yield USD SE | -0.16% | +58 bps | +1.32% | -212 bps | |
| LCI Balanced USD S | -0.14% | +20 bps | +5.31% | +61 bps | LCI Balanced USD SE | +0.22% | +56 bps | +3.22% | -148 bps | |
| LCI Growth USD S | +0.23% | +75 bps | +7.78% | +137 bps | LCI Growth USD SE | +0.61% | +112 bps | +5.09% | -133 bps | |
| LCI Equity USD S | +0.61% | +9 bps | +10.20% | +55 bps | LCI Equity USD SE | +0.99% | +47 bps | +6.92% | -273 bps | |
Returns in reference currency. Positive figures in green, negative in red. Source: La Côte Invest.
Only one sleeve materially trailed its benchmark in July — Fixed Income USD S at -38 bps — while Equity EUR S (-12), Balanced EUR S and Growth EUR S (-8 each) and Fixed Income USD SE (-2) were effectively flat against theirs. The strongest relative performers were Growth CHF SE (+152 bps), Equity CHF SE (+147) and Yield CHF SE (+113).
YTD Cushions
The multi-asset and equity strategies remain firmly positive year-to-date; the equity books lead the whole range (Equity EUR S +12.3%, Equity CHF S +11.1%, Equity USD S +10.2%), with multi-asset Growth close behind. The fixed-income books sit around flat as expected for a rising-rate stretch — from Fixed Income CHF SE at -1.05% to Fixed Income EUR S at +0.96%. Versus benchmark YTD the S sleeves are broadly ahead (Growth CHF S +286 bps, Growth EUR S +275, Balanced EUR S +260) while several SE sleeves have given back ground — Equity USD SE -273 bps, Yield USD SE -212, Balanced USD SE -148 and Growth USD SE -133.
Best Performer / Worst Performer
The Amundi Stoxx Europe Defense ETF was the top security of the month, returning roughly +8.8% to +9.9% depending on reference currency, closely followed by Amundi MSCI Indonesia (~+9.5-9.7%) and iShares MSCI Brazil (~+7%). European defence and select emerging markets were the clear engines, and they show up most strongly in the pure Equity books. At the other extreme, Amundi MSCI Korea fell about -20% to -21% across sleeves, the dominant single detractor of the month.
FX Impact
Currency effects split cleanly by reference currency:
CHF sleeves saw a tailwind of roughly +1 to +39 bps as the franc softened, with JPY and EUR the main positive currencies.
USD sleeves benefited most — up to +73 bps on the Equity USD book — on broad dollar weakness.
EUR sleeves were the exception, a drag of up to -37 bps as euro strength, chiefly against the dollar, weighed on unhedged exposures.
Portfolio Changes
No portfolio changes were made during July across any of the 30 strategies. Allocations were held steady month-over-month, so all relative performance came from market moves and FX rather than positioning shifts.
Editorial Note
The month reaffirms the active-enhanced tilt: the European-equity (defence) overweight and the precious-metals sleeve carried the SE books ahead of peers across all five families, most visibly in the CHF books (Equity CHF SE +147 bps, Growth CHF SE +152 bps vs benchmark). The Korea position is worth watching after a ~20% drop — a single holding driving most of the Asia Pacific drag, and its weight is naturally largest in the pure Equity sleeves. Fixed income, USD credit in particular, remains the persistent headwind and is the reason the only material laggard this month is Fixed Income USD S. With no changes made, the key question into August is whether to let the EM-equity and defence winners run or begin trimming into strength.
