Difficulty
Equity investments have had an exceptionally successful year. Over the 12 months ended on 30th June 2026, Finax's dynamic strategies delivered returns of more than 20 percent. Years like this are why we say that putting off investing can prove expensive.
Even so, the past year was not without its nervous moments. The end of February 2026 brought a shock in the form of armed conflict. Israel and the United States launched military strikes on Iran, killing the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. In retaliation, Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil trade passes.
Markets did not take long to react. Within a few days, the price of Brent crude jumped from its usual level of around 70 dollars to above 120 dollars a barrel. Comparisons with the oil shocks of the 1970s and warnings of a global recession appeared immediately.
President Trump's statements swung from promising to “finish the job” to signaling a withdrawal of troops. He threw the market from one mood into another.
Despite the initial fears, the conflict ultimately did not escalate into a long war that would have threatened global oil supplies for years to come. Oil prices returned to their earlier levels over the spring, and global equity indices not only recovered their losses but reached new all-time highs by the end of June 2026.
The first lesson, then, is that it pays not to panic. Shocks like these are no reason to deviate from your investment strategy, that is, to stop contributing or withdraw out of fear. Very often, even events that look at first glance like the end of the world bring no significant fall in equity markets.
Wars, sharp swings in commodity prices and political uncertainty have always been part of investing. Not one of them has managed to permanently halt the growth in value of the world's equity markets.
You can see this in the chart below, which shows how some of our portfolios performed over the year ended on 30th June 2026.
Corporate profits are among the key drivers of share prices. Since shares represent stakes in companies, growth in those companies' profits is the most important factor driving the growth in share prices over the long run.
The second observation is that, after quite some time, we could see the value of international diversification. Among the various ETFs held in our portfolios, the biggest gains came from funds focused on small US companies (tracking the Russell 2000 index) and on emerging-market companies (tracking the MSCI EM index). The prices of both ETFs rose by more than 40% between 30.6.2025 and 30.6.2026.
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In previous years these funds lagged behind. That is why we would occasionally get the question from clients as to why we hold them in portfolios at all, and whether it would not be enough to invest only in, say, the S&P 500.
Our answer is always that a portfolio should not be chosen on the basis of past performance, because different periods are dominated by different regions and sectors. Only by holding all of them do you guarantee that each year's winners will be in your portfolio. The past year confirmed that this approach is the right one. At Finax, you benefited from the growth of the companies mentioned above.
The S&P 500 itself gained more than 20%, which is a genuinely decent result for a single year. As I have already mentioned, though, it does not come anywhere near this year's winners.
You can see how selected ETFs from our portfolios performed over the year ended on 30th June 2026 in the chart below.
If the overview convinces you that investing with Finax would be the best place for your money to grow, transfer your investments from competing products to us. We will reward you with a discount for a documented transfer. We will apply no portfolio management fee to the first half of the transferred amount for two years.
Notice on the data presented: All figures relating to the performance of Finax portfolios represent the actual after-fee performance achieved by sample portfolios. We have described how we calculate actual performance in the article How we calculate the actual performance of Finax portfolios? Past results are no guarantee of future returns, and your investment may also result in a loss. Find out what risks you take when investing.
Tax notice: The stated performance figures are before potential taxes. Taxation depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may change. Bear in mind the tax laws in your country of residency when calculating the return on Finax portfolios.
Dynamic strategies
As always, we have organized the results by the pan-European SRI risk indicator. It can range from 1 to 7, where a higher number means a greater risk of fluctuations and falls in the value of the investment. Each table therefore brings together portfolios with a similar level of risk.
We would also point out that the tables always show the return after fees but before potential taxes, as stated in the disclaimers above.
The SRI 4 category is home to our Finax 100/0 portfolio, a fully equity strategy diversified across developed and emerging markets. The table below shows how it performed over the past year and over longer horizons.
You can see that the strategy performed very well, rising by 27% over the year ended on 30.6.2026. Historically, such performance is pretty above average.
However, as I mentioned above, equity investments should not be judged on a single year alone. Stocks can rise or decline in any given year, but what matters the most is how much they help you grow your wealth over long periods. You can see that since inception, the strategy returned more than 10% per year on average, representing a valuable wealth building tool.
Balanced strategies
The SRI 3 risk category covers a broad range of mixed portfolios made up of equities and bonds. Our portfolios in this category, from 90/10 (stock/bond ETFs) to 30/70, returned between 8.7% and 24.4% over the past year, net of fees.
Within this category, the more equity a strategy held, the better it did this year. The 90/10 and 80/20 mixes led the way, while the more defensive mixes with a larger share of bonds returned less.
It is a natural trade-off for greater stability of bond investments relative to stocks. Our bond strategies tend to carry less risk at the cost of lower expected returns. That is why they're suitable for more medium-term investing where you’ll need the money in a couple of years and can’t afford to risk much.
The same pattern holds over the longer 3- and 5-year horizons, where the strategies from 70/30 (equities/bonds) upwards deliver the strongest results.
Conservative strategies
The SRI 2 risk category covers portfolios built mainly on bonds, designed for shorter-term investing with milder swings in value. Our portfolios in this category (20/80 to 0/100) returned between -0.1% and 5.6% over the past year. It also includes the Calm Investing strategy for horizons of up to 3 years, which rose by 1.1% over the past year.
Over the longer five-year horizon, our bond portfolios are still feeling the effects of the sharp interest-rate rises of 2022. Several are showing a slight cumulative loss. Bond markets as a whole have yet to work off that shock.
Finax also has one portfolio in the lowest SRI 1 risk category. It is the second Calm Investing strategy, this time for horizons of up to 1 year. Its value is subject to almost no fluctuation, and its variable return reflects the European Central Bank's base rate. It is therefore more of an alternative to savings accounts or term deposits at banks, although unlike bank deposits, it is not protected by national deposit protection schemes and its value can fluctuate, if only minimally.
Below you will find a summary of its performance together with the European Pension (PEPP) strategies, to which we apply a reduced management fee. As before, the return shown is before any potential taxes.
The figures above show that Finax's strategies have had a good year. If you find their results attractive, we remind you of our generous discount for transferring your investment from the competition. We wish you relaxed investing without unnecessary stress and worries. Invest and relax.
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Frequently asked questions
1. How did Finax portfolios perform over the past year?
It was an exceptionally strong year. Our fully equity Finax 100/0 strategy rose by 27% over the year ended 30 June 2026, and our dynamic strategies delivered returns exceeding 20%. Mixed and bond-based portfolios earned less, in line with their lower risk. For the full breakdown by risk category, see the performance tables above, and read how we calculate the actual performance of Finax portfolios.
2. Should I stop investing when there is a war or market turmoil?
History says no. Wars, commodity shocks, and political uncertainty have always been part of investing, and not one of them has permanently halted the growth of the world’s equity markets. The past year is a perfect example: despite conflict in the Middle East and the longest US government shutdown on record, global indices reached new all-time highs. The lesson is simple: don’t panic and don’t deviate from your plan. Before you start, it helps to understand what risks you take when investing.
3. Is it worth diversifying, or should I just invest in the S&P 500?
Diversification proved its worth this year. The S&P 500 gained more than 20% a decent result, but the biggest winners were ETFs tracking small US companies (Russell 2000) and emerging markets (MSCI EM), both up more than 40%. Because different periods are dominated by different regions and sectors, holding all of them guarantees each year’s winners are in your portfolio. That is how our portfolios are built. And if you already invest elsewhere, you can transfer your investments to Finax and receive a discount.
