JGC : Whole Foods holds back Jupiter Green
Jupiter Green’s net asset value total return was -2.0% over the six months to the end of September 2014, a little less than the MSCI World Small cap. Index which returned -1.6% and the FTSE ET100 Index which was flat. The shares moved from trading at a discount to trading at a premium and this offset the underperformance so that the return to shareholders was -0.9%.
The manager’s report says risk aversion by some investors affected the fund’s performance during the year. US organic food holdings, which they say have been solid performers for the Trust in the past few years, held back performance. Whole Foods Market lost ground after it experienced increased competition from traditional stores and was forced to revise its strategy. United Natural Foods, a distributor of organic foods, lost ground on the back of this news. Global growth concerns weighed on engineering firm RPS Group and ball bearing specialist SKF.
On the plus side, US engineering firm Stantec released a positive trading update and continued to expand through acquisitions and their portfolio of Japanese holdings, including NSK and Shimano, also performed well in part due to the potentially positive impact of a falling yen on their international earnings.