Find out more about Alliance Trust’s performance, with the help of market commentary from our Investment Manager.
For the month of August, the Trust’s Total Shareholder Return and NAV Total Return were 5.7% and 6.0% respectively, outperforming the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) benchmark which returned 4.8%.
Nvidia Corp was the largest contributor to the Trust’s portfolio over the month, delivering an absolute return of 12.8%. The company announced its financial results for the second quarter, posting record revenues of $3.87bn up 50% year on year and up 26% from the previous quarter. The company’s data centre business grew at 167% year over year, benefitting from the inclusion of Mellanox, a provider of networking products and solutions for data centres, which NVIDIA recently acquired. Convatec Group PLC, an international medical products company, was the primary detractor from performance over the month. The company reported its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2020, which showed group revenues up 2.1% year on year. The Advanced Wound Care segment declined due to the negative impact of coronavirus leading to reduced elective surgeries as well as lower non-surgical volumes. Although the company expects further COVID-19 related disruptions it is taking steps to strategically reposition the business in response to the pandemic, such as enhancing their digital capabilities, whilst delaying spend in other areas to reflect the current environment. Therefore, we have maintained the Convatec Group position within the portfolio as it remains as a potential source of return for the Trust.
Within the Trust’s portfolio, a position was initiated in Vinci, a leading toll road and airport operator in France. Due to the dramatic decline in demand for transport services over lockdown, shares have fallen and hence were purchased at an attractive price, creating an opportunity for the Trust. Similarly, a new position in TransDigm was established, which provides components for use on commercial and military aircraft.
We have maintained the diversified portfolio positioning and remained defensive in our use of gearing, whilst making a small adjustment to the portfolio by increasing the exposure to value-style managers and away from the growth style to balance the Trust’s position in the current market conditions.
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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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