Fund commentary

Market Review
Fears over the state of Spain’s finances and political upheaval in France and the Netherlands played on investors’ minds this month. Risk assets were mostly shunned, with equity indices tumbling. Corporate results were mixed, while economic data pointed to recession in Europe.

Fund Performance
The Fund outperformed the sector average in April. The key positive impacts came from Ted Baker, Vopak and BIC where the Fund was overweight and all rose sharply over the month. The largest detracting impacts came from overweight positions in Barco and Imtech which fell over the period and where the Fund was also overweight.

Fund Positioning
While the political and economic landscape remains uncertain, we expect equity markets to be volatile over the next few months. Nonetheless, equities represent fair value and should deliver solid long-term returns. We are overweight materials, industrials and consumer staples, and underweight banks, health care and financials.