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Insights

Performance and market insights - January 2026

Market Insight
February 17, 2026

Performance summary

The CC Sage Capital Absolute Return Fund returned -1.73% in January versus the RBA Cash Rate return of 0.30%.*

The CC Sage Capital Equity Plus Fund returned 0.69% in January versus the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark of 1.78%, leaving an underperformance of 1.09%.*

Contributors and detractors to performance

Over the month, the Sage Groups^ that contributed the most to performance were Resources and Gold while Domestic Cyclicals, Defensives and Growth were detractors.

The largest positive contributors in the Resources group were long positions in BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL +30%) on the back of a takeover offer, while BHP Group (ASX: BHP +11%) and Capstone Copper (ASX: CSC +9%) were strong as copper prices rose to $US6/lb. Within the Gold group, it was hard to find a stock that wasn’t up strongly with the commodity breaching US$5,000 during the month.

Positive contributors within the Gold group came from long positions in Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM +15%) and Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN +16%), which both printed clean quarterlies and benefitted from copper production credits. On the negative side, detractors in Domestic Cyclicals included long positions in JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH -16%) and Qantas (ASX: QAN -3%), which were down on the risk of a rising interest rate environment and higher oil prices, while an underweight in Harvey Norman (ASX: HVN -7%) provided an offset.

In the Defensives group, the key drag was a long position in Aristocrat Leisure (ASX: ALL -8%) which came under pressure as investors switched into Light & Wonder after the companies unexpectedly settled their litigation. Within the Growth group, a key detractor was a long position in Zip Co (ASX: ZIP -19%). The stock fell following news that US President Donald Trump proposed a 10% limit on credit card interest rates. While we believe this proposal is unlikely to be implemented and would not have any material impact on Buy Now Pay Later facilities, the announcement negatively impacted sentiment towards the stock.

Elsewhere in the Growth group, Life360 (ASX: 360 -18%) was a drag on performance as software stocks globally were hit hard by the threat of AI. This came despite the company reporting strong monthly subscribers and upgrading its forecasts for 2026. On the positive side within the Growth group, underweight hedges in Pro Medicus (ASX: PME -17%) and Xero (ASX: XRO -18%) added value amongst the broad software sell-off.

Read the fund reports for additional commentary

* Past performance is not indicative of future performance. ^ Sage Capital uses a custom grouping system for long and short positions (Defensives, Domestic Cyclicals, Global Cyclicals, Gold, Growth, REITs, Resources and Yield). With a focus on the principal macro earnings drivers for each stock, Sage Groups allow for comparisons to GICS for selecting stocks within a sector.
This information is for professional and wholesale investors only and has been prepared by Sage Capital Pty Ltd ACN 632 839 877 AR No. 001276472 (‘Sage Capital’). Channel Investment Management Limited ACN 163 234 240 AFSL 439007 (‘CIML’) is the responsible entity and issuer of units in the CC Sage Capital Equity Plus Fund ARSN 634 148 913 and the CC Sage Capital Absolute Return Fund ARSN 634 149 287 (collectively ‘the Funds’). Channel Capital Pty Ltd ACN 162 591 568 AR No. 001274413 (‘Channel’) provides investment infrastructure services for Sage Capital and is the holding company of CIML. This information is supplied on the following conditions which are expressly accepted and agreed to by each interested party (‘Recipient’).
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This information contains general financial product advice only and has been prepared without taking into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. It is intended solely for wholesale clients (including sophisticated investors) as defined under sections 761G and 761GA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

The information provided should not be considered personal advice, a recommendation, or an offer to invest in the Funds. Recipients should not rely on this information in making investment decisions. A Recipient should, before making any investment decisions, consider the appropriateness of the information, and seek professional advice.

Neither Sage Capital, Channel, CIML or their representatives and respective employees or officers (collectively, ‘the Beneficiaries’) make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to accuracy, reliability or completeness of this information or subsequently provided to the Recipient or its advisers by any of the Beneficiaries, including, without limitation, any historical financial information, the estimates and projections and any other financial information derived there from, and nothing contained in this information is, or shall be relied upon, as a promise or representation, whether as to the past or the future. All investments contain risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

For further information and before investing, please read the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination which are available from www.channelcapital.com.au/funds
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