Fund Objective

The investment objective of the Trust is to provide capital appreciation and income.

View on Past Performance

Global equity markets had a turbulent quarter as the deepening financial crisis in the US hit their performance in September. The US government nationalised mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but this was quickly overshadowed by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the largest corporate failure in US history.The financial crisis also spread to the UK and Europe. In the UK, Lloyds TSB agreed to acquire HBOS, while Bradford & Bingley was nationalised. Equities saw more sharp falls towards the end of the quarter, as the US government's $700 billion bailout plan was rejected by the House of Representatives.UK and European government bonds rose as deteriorating economic news flow and falling commodity prices increased expectations of lower interest rates.

Future Expectations

We expect equity markets to remain volatile as we are in a period of extraordinary uncertainty. However, investors now appear far too pessimistic about the outlook for emerging economies and we believe current low valuations present an excellent buying opportunity for long-term investors.

Fund Details