Fund Objective

To aim to provide an income significantly in excess of the yield of the FTSE All Share Index with the prospect for some capital growth through investment in a spread of authorised unit trusts and/or authorised companies selected from those available in the whole market. The Trust will not be restricted to any particular sectors and may invest in funds investing outside the UK while maintaining a core exposure to funds investing in the UK.

View on Past Performance

What is clear is that most of the worlds' developed markets are either already mired in, or heading towards, recession.History tells us that on a global view, economies are usually in an upward cycle, punctuated by intermittent market corrections that lead to an inevitable 'down' period - the inevitable hangover that follows the binge. There will be bankruptcies and rights issues to sidestep, but there will also be areas of opportunity. This is the time for high quality, defensively minded managers to prove their mettle.Distribution outperformed the peer group, the IMA Cautious Managed sector, by over 1.5%in September.Contributors to this performance came from equity holdings in Japan, UK, Asia ex Japan, financials and government debt. Our Japan funds, Morant Wright and SG Japan Core Alpha, outperformed the benchmark, IMA Japan, by 4% and 4.3% respectively. Similarly, Jupiter Financial Opportunities outflanked the benchmark, FTSE Global Financials, by just under 8%.Strong relative performance in UK equities came from Lindsell Train and Invesco Income, down 6.1% and 9% against a fall of 13% in the FTSE All Share, benefiting from their defensive portfolio positioning and in particular low exposure to banking and resources. Finally, our government bond provided positive absolute returns of 0.2% and 0.45%.

Future Expectations

Since the announcement of the part nationalisation of US and UK banks, confidence has begun to trickle back but managers remain cautious, conscious that this could be a temporary relief rally, rather than an opportunity to buy into a new upward curve. Scoping new investment possibilities, to be exploited once the clouds left, is the order of the day.

Fund Details