Given the economic uncertainty it will come as no surprise that the Fund retains a strongly defensive stance with large holdings in sectors such as healthcare which should remain resilient in the face of an economic slowdown. Specifically, the main positive contributions to the Fund's performance in June came from holdings in the healthcare group Synergy Healthcare, the oil services company Lamprell, and the internet retailer ASOS.Until the economic picture clears we are happy to retain a defensive position - with the onus on owning companies where earnings should prove resilient in an economic slowdown. In the small cap arena we believe that many analysts' forecasts remain too optimistic. At the same time even small cuts to numbers are resulting in savage share price de-ratings. In such an environment it is clearly imperative to have a high degree of confidence in forecasts. However it should be noted that although we retaina cautious stance in the short term with many companies valuations approaching trough levels we believe extremely attractive long-term investment opportunities are emerging in the small cap sector.
2,400.81p
