September was characterised by intense equity market volatility as the credit crunch deepened into the worst financial crisis of the modern era. After steep falls, the FTSE All-Share index finished the month 13.24% down in sterling, total return terms. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers sparked share price collapses in major Financials on both sides of the Atlantic, including giant US institution AIG, which was effectively nationalised.The Fund slightly underperformed its FTSE All Share equity index benchmark over the month, but outperformed its peer group. Among the detractors from performance was the Schroder UK Alpha Plus fund, whose exposure to HBOS was one of the drivers of a poor monthly performance relative to its benchmark. On the positive side, our equity hedge positions went some way towards mitigating the losses from falling equities.Thematic equity allocations, such as our water and environmental themes also boosted relative performance. In terms of activity, we added to our holding in the River & Mercantile UK Equity Unconstrained fund. The fund is an unconstrained portfolio of 20-40 UK stocks generally with a mid and small cap bias, although this will change if the market backdrop is not supportive.