Fund Objective

The fund aims to provide capital appreciation investing in a portfolio of mainly US equities.

View on Past Performance

US stock markets endured a volatile month, as the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage crisis continued to undermine investor sentiment. Various financial companies revealed large writedowns and rising loan loss provisions, and there were indications that the crisis was beginning to affect US consumer confidence.News from the residential housing sector remained entirely negative. Volatility in commodity prices impacted energy and mining stocks, while technology stocks, previously held as a safe haven, suffered on fears of a decline in corporate spending. The uncertain interest rate environment also contributed to weakening investor sentiment.

Future Expectations

US equities remain susceptible to the volatile market environment, as investors wait to see whether there will be contagion from the current credit crisis. Although the accounting losses within the financial sector are being felt across indices, there are indications that the wider economy remains in reasonably robust shape.However, we are adopting an extremely cautious stance regarding our positions in financials and stocks exposed to consumer discretionary spending, and do not anticipate positive changes ahead in these sectors.

Fund Details