Fund Objective

The trust's objective is investment world-wide with a view to obtaining capital growth.

View on Past Performance

During the quarter, the Trust recorded a negative return of 11.0% compared to -8.80% for the benchmark MSCI World Index. Two main detractors were US mobile phone company Sprint Nextel, after write-down losses and a scrapped dividend, and US health insurer WellPoint, following higher medical costs and claims sector-wide. Conversely, Wal-Mart de Mexico contributed on successful price-cutting and small-format store plans.US oil and gas producer Devon Energy also contributed on record earnings, drilling successes and increased reserves. This was a new position, alongside attractively-priced BNP Paribas, eBay and US cable/broadband company Comcast. Fully-valued Bank of Cyprus was sold to take profits and Morgan Stanley switched into Merrill Lynch.

Future Expectations

Global stock market nervousness and volatility seem likely to persist. In current circumstances, defensive stock categories including utilities, healthcare and consumer staples may outperform other sectors. The Trust's managers believe that the increased price volatility induced by the sub-prime crisis may enable stock pickers with an eye for hidden value to achieve gains by adopting a contrarian view on some companies' prospects.

Fund Details