TR European Growth outperformed its benchmark over the second half of 2013, generating a total return of 24.8% on its net asset value against an 18.9% return on the HSBC Smaller Europe (ex UK) Index. Shareholders did even better as the discount narrowed to 10.2% – helping push the total return in the shares to 34.9%.
The manager’s report highlights good returns from a number of companies as contributors to the good performance. Gowex, a WiFi provider for municipalities; Comet Holding, which has recently won a contract to provide e-beam sterilisation technology for Tetra-Pak; Manz, a supplier to the smartphone industry, and Yoox, an online luxury retailer.