LCI Monthly Strategy Review May 2026
Performance Overview
May 2026 was a risk-on month. Global equities led, with Korea the standout (Amundi MSCI Korea +29% in local/ref terms), US large-cap and Japan also firm. Every LCI strategy posted a positive absolute return. Relative to benchmark the picture splits cleanly by sleeve: the semi-passive (S) sleeves tracked close to or modestly behind their references, while the active-enhanced (SE) sleeves trailed more, dragged by the deliberate gold allocation (−1.0% to −1.7% contribution) and hedged/defence tilts that lagged a pure equity-beta peer.
Performance - May 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 Yield CHF S | +1.13% | -55 bps | +1.80% | +1 bps | LCI Yield CHF SE | +0.74% | -93 bps | +1.66% | -13 bps | |
| LCI Balanced CHF S | +2.08% | +13 bps | +3.97% | +72 bps | LCI Balanced CHF SE | +1.49% | -46 bps | +3.25% | -1 bps | |
| LCI Growth CHF S | +3.03% | -19 bps | +6.13% | +144 bps | LCI Growth CHF SE | +2.23% | -99 bps | +4.82% | +13 bps | |
| LCI Yield EUR S | +1.67% | -37 bps | +3.40% | +41 bps | LCI Yield EUR SE | +1.24% | -81 bps | +3.24% | +24 bps | |
| LCI Balanced EUR S | +2.61% | -22 bps | +5.81% | +128 bps | LCI Balanced EUR SE | +1.99% | -85 bps | +5.05% | +52 bps | |
| LCI Growth EUR S | +3.55% | -38 bps | +8.19% | +201 bps | LCI Growth EUR SE | +2.73% | -120 bps | +6.84% | +66 bps | |
| LCI Yield USD S | +1.31% | -82 bps | +3.15% | -66 bps | LCI Yield USD SE | +0.90% | -123 bps | +3.05% | +25 bps | |
| LCI Balanced USD S | +2.17% | -93 bps | +5.40% | -1 bps | LCI Balanced USD SE | +1.60% | -150 bps | +4.77% | -65 bps | |
| LCI Growth USD S | +3.04% | -71 bps | +7.60% | +72 bps | LCI Growth USD SE | +2.30% | -144 bps | +6.46% | -42 bps | |
Returns in reference currency. Positive figures in green, negative in red. Source: La Côte Invest.
YTD Cushions
All 18 strategies remain positive YTD. The S sleeves are ahead of benchmark across the board (e.g. Growth EUR S +201 bps, Balanced EUR S +128 bps); the SE sleeves are mixed — most still positive vs benchmark on a YTD basis but thinner, with Growth USD SE the tightest.
Best Performer
Amundi MSCI Korea was the top security everywhere (+29.0% to +29.8% depending on reference currency), a meaningful single-line contributor despite small (1–3%) weights. US S&P 500 / MSCI USA and Japan rounded out the leaders.
Worst Performer
The weakest holdings were the same across every sleeve: Amundi MSCI Indonesia (-13.3% to -13.9% by reference currency) and iShares MSCI Brazil (-8.2% to -8.8%). Both are small emerging-market positions (~0.5-1.9% weight), so the contribution drag was modest despite the steep price falls.
FX Impact
CHF and USD reference sleeves: home-currency strength weighed on unhedged exposures (CHF sleeves −8 to −23 bps; USD sleeves −9 to −26 bps), with EUR and JPY the main drags.
EUR sleeves were the exception: USD exposure was a tailwind (+108 to +217 bps), making FX additive for EUR-referenced strategies.
Portfolio Changes
No rebalancing this cycle — weights were held steady across all 18 strategies between April and May month-end. The structural gold and European-defence positions in the SE sleeves remain in place.
Editorial Note
The S-vs-SE gap this month is a feature, not a fault: it is the gold and hedging overlay doing exactly what it is meant to in a sharp equity rally — giving up some upside. Worth watching whether the gold drag persists; if the equity melt-up continues, expect the SE sleeves to keep lagging on a relative basis while still compounding positively.
