Fund Objective

This Fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth.

View on Past Performance

The UK stockmarket as measured by the FTSE All Share Index fell in September by 13.2% in Sterling terms. The Fund underperformed its benchmark over the month. Leaf Clean Energy, which was the largest positive contributor to performance during the month, is a relatively defensive holding and its share price remained largely unchanged during the month. It is expected that newsflow on the sector is likely to increase after the US presidential election later this year.Another defensive stock, Sainsburys, performed well when compared to markets in general in the face of falling markets. The company has attractive assets which has attracted strategic interest within the last year. The Fund's holding in HBoS was the largest detractor to performance during the month. Although merger talks with LloydsTSB are well advanced, the company has been hit hard during the ongoing credit crisis and this has had a significant impact on its share price.

Future Expectations

Equity markets are likely to remain volatile until it becomes clear how the world economy will emerge from its current period of weakness.

Fund Details