Fund Objective

The aim of the Fund is to achieve capital growth.

View on Past Performance

Factors impacting the fund in July included our overweight in healthcare, which experienced a good month. However, one of our larger holdings - the Swiss dental implant maker Nobel Biocare - detracted from performance due to an unexpected change in management and concerns about trading.Our underweight in the IT sector, which performed well, also proved negative. Our overweight in the autos sector supported the fund's returnsConcerns about developments in US sub-prime markets affected the financials sector in particular, with insurance companies (where we have an overweight) hit harder than banks (where we have an underweight). However, most of the insurance companies that we own have declared that they have a very small exposure to the problems afflicting the US.

Future Expectations

We believe that the problems in the US sub-prime markets are manageable. The global economic outlook remains good and companies are in robust financial health, with solid balance sheets and strong earnings growth. Valuations remain reasonable and we expect M&A activity to continue, although the private equity sector will experience greater difficulty in raising finance.

Fund Details