Hansa Trust has a better year – Hansa Trust has reported its results for the year ended 31 March 2018. Over this period, while inflation was 2.5% and the return on the MSCI All Countries World Index was 2.6%, it delivered a return on NAV of 6.3% and returns to shareholders of 16.5% on its ordinary shares and 17.3% on its non voting shares. This represents a substantial narrowing of the discount on these shares but, as the chairman acknowledges, there is some way to go on this front. The company says that the one-year average discount on its ords and non voting shares were 27.8% and 29.3% respectively versus 7.0% for a group of trusts with similar objectives. The dividend was maintained at 16p per share.
Ocean Wilsons returned 11.7% as Wilson & Son’s EBITDA grew by 11.8%. This despite “a challenging economic environment in Brazil”.
The report says that the portfolio’s two frontier market holdings were particularly strong, with the values of SR Global Fund Inc – Frontier Markets and the BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust rising by 9.0% and 10.3%, respectively, over the period. Their two Japanese funds also contributed positively to performance over the course of the year, with the net asset values of Goodhart Partners: Hanjo Fund rising 33.4% and the Indus Japan Long Only Fund increasing by 11.5%. GAM Star Technology Fund returned 16.2%, as the technology sector enjoyed an extremely strong year.