Fund Objective

The objective of the Fund is to provide long-term capital appreciation through investment primarily in equity securities issued world-wide.

View on Past Performance

During September, the fund outperformed its benchmark. The three strongest sectors during the quarter were consumer staples (-2%), health care (-2%) and financials (-10%). The three worst performing sectors were materials (-34%), energy (-28%) and industrials (-18%). The MSCI World Index returned -9.84% for the month and -5.38% for the quarter. The three strongest stocks in the fund for the quarter were Scotts Miracle-Gro (+35%), Kellogg (+18%) and Procter & Gamble (+15%).Their contributions to the quarterly return were +35 bps, +41 bps and +37 bps, respectively. For the same period, the three weakest performing stocks in the fund were C&C (-52%), Kone (-24%) and Cadbury (-19%). Their contributions were -100 bps, -72 bps and -83 bps respectively. In keeping with our buy-and-hold approach to investing, there were no new positions or final sales in the fund during September and July. In August, we sold our holdings in WPP and Dr Pepper Snapple.

Future Expectations

We continue to seek investment opportunities in companies with strong business franchises protected by a dominant intangible asset. Additionally, we demand sound management, substantial free cash flow and growth potential.

Fund Details