The City of London Investment Trust Fund Manager Commentary – October 2022
Job Curtis, Portfolio Manager of The City of London Investment Trust, provides an update on the Trust, highlighting factors currently affecting the UK market, the key drivers of performance in October, and outlines recent portfolio activity.
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Please Note
From January, The City of London Investment Trust’s Commentary will be merged into the Factsheet. The new, and improved, merged Factsheet document will still be accessible via the ‘Quicklinks’ and ‘Documents’ sections on the City of London Investment Trust’s webpage.
Portfolio Review
The Company’s net asset value was up 3.3%, slightly ahead of the FTSE All Share Index return of 3.1%.
We sold the holding in Haleon, the consumer health care company, given its low dividend yield while the company reduces its debt. Some of the proceeds were reinvested in Sanofi, the pharmaceutical company headquartered in France. We also sold the holding in Synthomer, the chemical company, with its dividend suspended due to its high level of debt caused by an acquisition made in 2021. The proceeds were reinvested in medium-sized companies Marshalls in the building materials sector and Wincanton in the logistics sector. We also made an addition to NatWest in view of its guided return on equity and discount to book value.
Manager Outlook
Monetary tightening remains a headwind for equity markets. We think the dividend yield of UK equities is attractive compared with the average of world equities.
1Source: Bloomberg as at 31 October 2022
Inflation – The rate at which the prices of goods and services are rising in an economy. The CPI and RPI are two common measures. The opposite of deflation.
Recession – A recession is a significant, widespread, and prolonged downturn in economic activity. A popular rule of thumb is that two consecutive quarters of decline in gross domestic product (GDP) constitute a recession. Recessions typically produce declines in economic output, consumer demand, and employment.
Monetary Policy tightening – Tight, or contractionary monetary policy is a course of action undertaken by a central bank such as the Federal Reserve to slow down overheated economic growth, to constrict spending in an economy that is seen to be accelerating too quickly, or to curb inflation when it is rising too fast.
Net Asset Value – The total value of a fund’s assets less its liabilities.
These are the views of the author at the time of publication and may differ from the views of other individuals/teams at Janus Henderson Investors. References made to individual securities do not constitute a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, investment strategy or market sector, and should not be assumed to be profitable. Janus Henderson Investors, its affiliated advisor, or its employees, may have a position in the securities mentioned.
Past performance does not predict future returns. The value of an investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise and you may not get back the amount originally invested.
The information in this article does not qualify as an investment recommendation.
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Important information
Please read the following important information regarding funds related to this article.
- If a Company's portfolio is concentrated towards a particular country or geographical region, the investment carries greater risk than a portfolio that is diversified across more countries.
- Where the Company invests in assets that are denominated in currencies other than the base currency, the currency exchange rate movements may cause the value of investments to fall as well as rise.
- This Company is suitable to be used as one component of several within a diversified investment portfolio. Investors should consider carefully the proportion of their portfolio invested in this Company.
- Active management techniques that have worked well in normal market conditions could prove ineffective or negative for performance at other times.
- The Company could lose money if a counterparty with which it trades becomes unwilling or unable to meet its obligations to the Company.
- Shares can lose value rapidly, and typically involve higher risks than bonds or money market instruments. The value of your investment may fall as a result.
- The return on your investment is directly related to the prevailing market price of the Company's shares, which will trade at a varying discount (or premium) relative to the value of the underlying assets of the Company. As a result, losses (or gains) may be higher or lower than those of the Company's assets.
- The Company may use gearing (borrowing to invest) as part of its investment strategy. If the Company utilises its ability to gear, the profits and losses incurred by the Company can be greater than those of a Company that does not use gearing.
- All or part of the Company's management fee is taken from its capital. While this allows more income to be paid, it may also restrict capital growth or even result in capital erosion over time.
Specific risks
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