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Source: The Bank of New York Mellon (International) Ltd as at 30.04.18
9. Includes private equity, mineral rights, funds, Liontrust Asset Management plc shares and other non-operating subsidiaries.
10. Cash quoted is centrally held cash. The equity portfolio may also hold cash as a result of trading by the underlying managers.
By Geography
Source: The Bank of New York Mellon (International) Ltd and MSCI Inc as at 30.04.18
By Sector
Source: The Bank of New York Mellon (International) as at 30.04.18
The view from our Investment Manager, 31 March 2018
Alliance Trust adopted the new multi-manager approach on 1 April 2017, and so this quarter marks the first year anniversary since the change of management. The Trust’s equity portfolio has returned 5.7%, outperforming the MSCI ACWI by 2.9% with stock selection remaining the main driver of performance.
Looking now at the first quarter of 2018, it was eventful as we saw a surge in equities followed by a correction that continued through the end of March. Most major market indices posted positive returns in January, continuing the positive momentum of 2017. However in February, volatility returned to markets, as better-than-expected US wage growth sparked inflation fears, triggering a sell-off of US and global equities. In March, the US administration’s announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from China prompted threats of retaliatory tariffs that led to increasing fears of a global trade war, resulting in a further deterioration of global equity markets.
The Trust’s total shareholder return, Net Asset Value (NAV) total return and equity portfolio return over the quarter were -5.9%, -3.9% and -3.7% respectively, against the MSCI ACWI which returned -4.4% over the same period. The portfolio started the year strongly and outperformed the market in January due to the underweight position in America across our portfolio. During the months of February and March, our balanced exposure across styles, factors and geographies resulted in the portfolio performing similarly to the benchmark through the broadly based market correction. The portfolio slightly underperformed the MSCI ACWI towards the end of the quarter due to an overweight allocation to Asia, a region which experienced shaky performance.
Over the quarter, we have seen increased activity in the portfolio with our portfolio managers taking advantage of the volatility by realising profits on some stocks and entering into new opportunities in response to price moves. The biggest sale over the quarter was a position in Aetna, previously a stock in the top 20 holdings across the portfolio, after a period of strong performance.
Read our Investment Manager’s report for more on our portfolio’s performance over the past month.
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