Fund commentary

Market Review
The UK market enjoyed a strong start to the year, driven more by international events than domestic newsflow. The “risk trade” was very much back on in January and February with the banking and mining sectors leading the way. This “risk-on” environment was also reflected over the quarter by the performance of mid and small caps, which rose by 14.7% and 18.2%, easily beating the FTSE 100 return of 4.6%. The S&P 500 rose by 9.2% over the quarter and, unlike most other markets, produced positive returns in each month of the quarter. Financial and technology stocks helped the S&P 500 index reach four-year highs. The markets were boosted by a raft of positive newsflow with US consumer spending reaching its highest level in more than a year. Europe, as measured by the FTSE Europe ex UK index, rose by 9.8% over the quarter. European equity markets were strong during January and February helped by the European central bank injecting a second round of long-term refinancing operation money into the banking system and Greece securing a second bail-out.

Fund Performance
The Fund was up 7.24% over the quarter a third quartile return.