The Fund focuses on investing in an international portfolio of interest bearing securities including those issued or backed by the UK government.The third quarter was a positive period for global government bonds. The inflation and interest rate worries of the second quarter were calmed by lower oil and commodity prices, while major economic indicators pointed towards slower growth at best, and in some areas including Europe, recession. Optimism over the prospect of lower interest rates supported demand for bonds, with short-dated assets seeing the greatest declines in yields.Economic growth remained stronger in the US than in Europe, despite ongoing weakening of domestic US indicators. In addition, up until the financial sector turmoil of September, the Federal Reserve appeared to be the most likely of the major central banks to increase interest rates to counter inflation.Our defensive duration stance was slightly negative over the three months as a whole, with markets rallying for much of the period. As we maintained a neutral yield curve stance, this had little impact on performance.