Half year results to 31 October 2013 show an NAV uplift of 6.5% and an increase in the share price of 5.6%. MWGT’s benchmark is the return on Sterling LIBOR +2% (equal to 1.3% over the period – so MWGT comfortably outperformed its benchmark). MWGT’s return lagged that of the FTSE All-Share and MSCI World Indices a little – the managers attribute this to the nature of MWGT’s portfolio which includes a number of funds that are invested in things other than equities.
MWGT’s exposure to Chinese property, through funds such as Macau Property Opportunities : MPO, and moving early into growth funds such as European Investment Trust : EUT helped performance. The managers have been adding to positions in private equity funds such as Graphite Enterprise : GPE and Pantheon International Participations : PIN believing that banks are more ready to lend and this increases the likelihood of these funds making profitable sales. Juridica : JIL was the best performing investment over the period as the fund, which had been trading on a wide discount, came back into favour with investors.
The main detractors from performance were MWGT’s holdings in resource and commodity funds. The managers took advantage of weak prices to add to holdings in Phaunos Timber : PTF and Geiger Counter : GCL.