Find out more about Alliance Trust’s performance, with the help of market commentary from our Investment Manager.
For the month of April, the Trust’s total shareholder return, NAV total return and equity portfolio returned 4.6%, 4.7% and 4.4% respectively. The benchmark MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) returned 3.4% over the same period.
Most developed equity markets continued to rise throughout April, sustaining their upward trend since the falls experienced in the fourth quarter of 2018. Further hope of a positive resolution of ongoing trade disputes between China and the US provided comfort to investors, as did the removal of the imminent threat of a “no deal” Brexit with the signing in to law of a new default exit date of 31 October 2019. A better-than-expected start to the first quarter US earning season also buoyed markets during the month, with US equity markets outperforming the rest of the world. Year to date equity markets have returned over 13% in GBP terms and are now mostly back above levels seen prior to Q4 last year.
The most significant single contributor to the Trust’s return in April was its largest position, Microsoft, which posted double digit returns following a first quarter earnings announcement that beat analyst expectations. The company’s strong earnings performance was in part driven by the impressive growth of its cloud computing business, Azure, with Microsoft reporting year-on-year revenue growth of over 70% for the division.
Over the course of the month, the Trust’s stock pickers as ever continued to find interesting opportunities to add to the Trust’s equity portfolio. A new position was established in Melrose Industries, a UK based firm focused on acquiring underperforming firms and improving their business performance and share price over the medium to long term. Melrose’s investments include Nortek, a global business group headquartered in Italy with subsidiaries specialising in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and security systems. Other new names added to the Trust’s portfolio in April included Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, both large US banks with operations spanning the broader financial services sector, with both exhibiting improving overall company fundamentals and trading at attractive valuations at the time of purchase.
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Alliance Trust has been awarded the AIC’s Dividend Hero award and is proud to have increased its dividend every year for over 50 years. This award is made by the Association of Investment Companies to the small number of investment companies who have increased their dividends each year for 20 years or more. For more information and a full list of qualifying companies, you can visit the AIC website.
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