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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