Gold and resource funds dominate latest PlexCrown rankings

Resource, gold and global equity funds dominated the latest PlexCrown rankings of South Africa’s best-performing unit trusts, with some funds delivering returns of more than 90% over 12 months.

The rankings are based on fund performance up to 31 March 2026 and compare returns across a range of investment periods.

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The latest tables from PlexCrown – a retail unit trust fund-rating agency in South Africa – rank the best-performing domestic and offshore funds over three months, 12 months, three years, five years, and 10 years according to yield. Returns for periods longer than one year are annualised.

PlexCrown says its ratings are based on a combination of recognised statistical measures.

The rankings come after PlexCrown recently updated parts of its methodology and ratings framework.

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One of the changes was the removal of multi-asset income ratings. PlexCrown says it discontinued the publication of risk-adjusted return ratings for this category because of an increase in less liquid instruments – particularly those that are not priced daily.

The agency also changed how it calculates overall management company ratings. Asset managers now only need qualifying funds across three broad categories instead of four to qualify for a rating.

Domestic fund performance 

The tables below show the best-performing domestic funds with regard to yield over five different periods.

Three months

Fund
Yield 

1. Blue Quadrant Worldwide Flexible Prescient Fund A
31.15%

2. AG Capital BCI Value Flexible Fund A
15.28%

3. Celerity Ci Diversified Fund A
13.37%

4. Satrix Global Infrastructure Feeder ETF
12.98%

5. Satrix Inclusion and Diversity ETF
11.87%

12 months

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Fund
Yield

1. Satrix RESI ETF A
94.29%

2. Ninety One Commodity Fund A
90.56%

3. Old Mutual Gold Fund R
86.19%

4. Momentum Resources Fund A
81.91%

5. Sanlam Investment Management SCI Resources Fund A
81.89%

Three years 

Fund
Yield 

1. Old Mutual Gold Fund R
49.07%

2. EasyETFs Global Equity Actively Managed ETF
44.33%

3. Raven BCI Worldwide Flexible Fund A
37.50%

4. SaltLight BCI Worldwide Flexible Fund A2
31.31%

5. Satrix RESI ETF A
28.67%

Five years

Fund
Yield

1. Blue Quadrant Worldwide Flexible Prescient Fund A
39.37%

2. Old Mutual Gold Fund R
36.41%

3. PSG SA Equity Fund F
23.37%

4. EasyETFs Global Equity Actively Managed ETF
21.51%

5. 1NVEST S&P 500 Info Tech Index Feeder ETF
20.85%

 10 years 

Fund
Yield

1. Coronation Resources Fund P
24.46%

2. EasyETFs Global Equity Actively Managed ETF
23.35%

3. Sanlam Investment Management SCI Resources Fund A
22.29%

4. Blue Quadrant Worldwide Flexible Prescient Fund A
22.05%

5. Nedgroup Investments Mining & Resource Fund A
21.22%

International fund performance

The top five international/offshore funds for each period are:

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Three months

Fund
Yield

1. Franklin Natural Resources Fund
25.17%

2. Blue Quadrant USD Capital Growth Fund (USD) – A A
21.98%

3. Templeton Latin America Fund
20.54%

4. Rozendal Global Fund (USD) – A
20.27%

5. Capicraft Global Creator (USD) – A
13.59%

12 months

Fund
Yield

1. Schroder International Selection Fund Global Gold C
108.55%

2. Ninety One GSF Global Gold Fund A Acc
95.77%

3. VAM US Micro Cap Growth Fund A
51.21%

4. Allan Gray Africa ex-SA Equity Fund (USD) – A
50.52%

5. Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund
49.15%

 Three years

Fund
Yield

1. Schroder International Selection Fund Global Gold C
52.42%

2. Ninety One GSF Global Gold Fund A Acc
41.84%

3. Denker Global Financial Fund
27.10%

4. High Street Wealth Warriors Fund (USD) – A A
25.77%

5. Allan Gray Frontier Markets Equity Fund
24.98%

Five years 

Fund
Yield 

1. Schroder International Selection Fund Global Gold C
33.61%

2. Ninety One GSF Global Gold Fund A Acc
28.75%

3. Franklin Natural Resources Fund
22.14%

4. Orbis SICAV International Equity Fund
21.35%

5. Ranmore Global Equity Fund
21.07%

10 years

Fund
Yield

1. Franklin Technology Fund
19.26%

2. Ninety One GSF Global Gold Fund A Acc
19.03%

3. VAM US Micro Cap Growth Fund A
18.51%

4. Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds – US Stock Fund Acc (USD)
17.25%

5. VAM US Small Cap Growth Fund A
15.47%

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