The investment objective of Aberdeen Balanced Managed Fund is to provide long term total return from a diversified portfolio of securities, whilst seeking to adopt a similar level of risk to the average UK balanced pension fund.
October has again been a disappointing month for equities. The MSCI World index had dropped 16% in sterling terms going into the final week of the month. A sustained rally saw the market finish the month down a little under 8%. The MSCI Emerging Market index showed a similar pattern over the month with a sharp decline followed by a rally of 17% in the final week of the month. Continued efforts are being made to stave off the global recession.The FOMC has again reduced rates in an effort to stimulate the economy. It is expected that the MPC and European Central Bank will both follow suit at their next meetings. Within currency markets most major currencies have depreciated against the US dollar. The major exception to this is the dollar yen rate which has appreciated against the US dollar.From a UK context the movements in the exchange rates will assist companies whose profits arise from the US as the value of any profits will increase when repatriated to the UK. Over the month the oil price continued to fall. By the end of October the WTI Dec '08 future had dropped by over 32%. Within the portfolio we have increased our equity exposure and infrastructure exposure as markets allowed.
324.58p
