Fund Objective

The Fund aims to provide long-term capital growth and a high growing income.

View on Past Performance

September saw an acute worsening of the credit environment and market volatility was sustained and significant. Against this backdrop we continue to look to position the Fund defensively. We selectively used volatility to buy into more cyclically orientated investments that appeared attractively valued post recent underperformance. For example we increased exposure to miners - buying shares in Xstrata and Anglo American.Whilst retaining a broadly defensive tilt we are mindful that a number of our core holdings look vulnerable following relative outperformance. We therefore trimmed positions in Scottish & Southern Energy, National Grid and Tesco.Performance was aided by holdings in British American Tobacco and Legal & General. Positions in electronics firm Laird and oil services group Lamprell detracted from overall performance.

Future Expectations

We think that at this point the market looks oversold but developments in global credit markets are pushing indices still lower. We expect a rally in the near future but a great deal depends on the level of intervention by national banks.

Fund Details