Edinburgh Partners Global Opportunities returned 2.2% on net assets over the course of 2014, better than the 1.2% return on the FTSE All-Share index but well behind the 11.3% returned generated by the FTSE All-World Index. The Board aims to pay a dividend of 3.3p for the year (from revenues of 3.7p).
The portfolio’s focus on Europe and Japan, which worked well for them in 2013, cost them relative performance in 2014 as the US market generated the strongest returns and currencies moved against them. They actually cut their US holdings in 2014 as they grew more nervous about valuations in that market and have also eliminated their gearing. they sold or top sliced a number of holdings that they felt had reached their target valuations including KDDI, Yamaha Motor and Bridgestone in Japan, AP Moller Maersk in Denmark
EPG : EP Global nervous about the US