Fund Objective

To achieve long term capital growth.

View on Past Performance

During the month the Trust returned -13.5%, while the Index returned -10.4%. Global equity markets fell by 12.4% in US dollar terms in September, marking another poor month for global equities. Concerns over extreme tensions in the credit markets weighed on investors, while economic data pointed to slowing global economies. The best performing sector in the month was the Consumer Staples sector, which fell by 4.0%.The worst performing sectors were the Materials sector and the Energy sector which fell by 24.2% and 16.0% respectively. Japanese beverage producer Oenon Holdings was our best performing stock in the month, rising by 14%. Our worst performing stock in the month was gold miner Peter Hambro Mining, which fell by 47% after posting disappointing results on higher operating costs.

Future Expectations

Going forward, the curtailment of lending in the economy threatens to make the global economic slowdown much more severe than would otherwise be the case. With hedge fund investors and others having to redeem their investments to reduce borrowings, we have seen forced sales of many securities. Although it is difficult to say when this situation will end, the result is that we believe many stocks now represent excellent value for long-term investors.

Fund Details