To give long-term capital growth by investing in a select portfolio of mainly company shares, primarily in Euroland. By Euroland, we mean countries within the European Economic and Monetary Union, who are either in the process of replacing, or have replaced, their national currencies with the Euro.
It has been over a year since the credit crunch started, but it's full force has only just been felt. This has been seen in increased market volatility and difficulties within the global financial system Money markets convulsed and lending between banks all but dried up. Key European interbank lending rates - what banks charge each other to borrow - rose to record levels, as money migrated by the billions to the perceived safety of government bonds.To exacerbate matters, the outlook for the eurozone's economy also darkened further, with France teetering on the brink of recession. With the recent market sell-off, valuations are now very attractive on both a historical basis and when compared to other asset classes. But the market will suffer bouts of volatility in the short to medium term, and risk-aversion is likely to remain high.
