Henderson High Income generated a net asset value total return of 3.6% over the first half of 2014 – 2% ahead of the 1.6% return delivered by the FTSE All-Share Index and ahead of the fund’s benchmark which returned 2.3%. The dividend for the first half was 4.25p as compared to 4.15p for the equivalent period last year and the new quarterly dividend is 2.175p.
The manager’s report says that holdings in utility companies contributed to performance as did holdings in other defensive shares such as British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and National Grid.