EP Global Opportunities returned 2.9% on net assets over the course of 2015. The Company has no official benchmark, this was ahead of the total return for the FTSE All-Share Index of 1.0%, but slightly behind the total return from the FTSE All-World Index of 4.0%.
They plan to pay a dividend of 3.1p at the end of March (down 6.1% on the previous year – the result of falling net revenue). The share price closed the year at 234.5p, which was a discount of 2.2% – up from a 0.6% discount at the end of 2014.
The Japanese equity market was the best performing major equity market during the year and they started 2015 with a third of net assets invested in Japan. They saw strong performance from their technology holdings, in particular from two US shares: Alphabet, the holding company for Google, and Microsoft. Their investment in the telecommunications sector also provided good returns, with the share prices of KDDI and NTT, both Japanese companies, being particularly firm. Health care was also a strong area. They reduced our exposure to the sector during the year with the sale of Fresenius Medical Care in Germany and Sanofi in France after their shares had made useful gains. Sectors that were negative contributors to performance included financials and oil and gas. The dramatic fall in the oil price during the year had a negative impact on their oil investments, including BP and Royal Dutch Shell, with the Brent Crude oil price falling by 36 per cent from $56 to $36, having declined from over $100 in 2014.
EPG : EP Global posts 2.9% return for 2015