SMT : Strong performance helps Scottish Mortgage become no.1
Scottish Mortgage beat the FTSE All-Share Index by some margin over the six months that ended on 30 September 2014. Over that period the total return on net assets was 9.0% vs. 4.4% for the index. What’s more, the fund’s rating improved so that the return to shareholders was 12.1%. As a results of this and recent share issuance, Scottish Mortgage became the largest conventional investment trust. The interim dividend is being maintained at 1.38p as revenue per share fell over the period (they mention lower revenue from Polish investment, KGHM, as one reason for this but Sterling strength will also have had an impact).
The report mentions the need they feel to invest a portion of the portfolio in unlisted investments, to catch growing companies before their value is recognised by the market. This worked well for them recently with Alibaba. They say investors should expect them to make more unlisted investments in future.