Brunner Investment Trust (BUT) released its annual results for the period ended 30 November 2023. The company’s NAV total return was 8.7%, versus 5.5% for the composite benchmark (70% FTSE World Ex. UK / 30% FTSE All-Share). This marks the 5th consecutive year of outperformance of the benchmark by the trust. Despite the outperformance, the company continues to trade at a discount, although this has narrowed to around 8%.
The four largest contributors to performance were Microsoft, Jumbo SA (a Greek listed retailer), Novo Nordisk and Munich Re, demonstrating the variety of companies and sectors the manager selects to meet the company’s performance and risk objectives.
Discussing the outlook, chair Carolan Dobson added:
“2024 will likely be another significant year in terms of ‘headline’ events with 64 countries plus the European Union holding elections. Associated ‘news’ is likely to be rampant. Along with two major conflicts, the geopolitical landscape remains dangerous.
“Markets have been acutely concerned with inflation and second-guessing central bank’s rate rhetoric. Inflation appears to be more under control but events in the Middle East have the potential to disrupt that.
“Not all economies are built equally, and we have already seen divergence in economic performance. As you will read in the Investment Manager’s Review on pages 24 to 39 of the annual report, the portfolio managers are largely agnostic to where a stock happens to be listed. A large proportion of world class businesses derive their revenues from a diverse range of locations around the globe, often unconnected with where their stock is listed. The managers also argue in their report that the ‘macro’ factors, which undoubtedly move markets (possibly dramatically) in the short term, ultimately have limited impact on the long-term outcomes for individual businesses and thus for stock market returns over the long term.
“As ever this scenario provides a good hunting ground for stock pickers who can look past the immediate noise and focus on the long-term opportunities available from individual businesses, crafting a balanced portfolio of such opportunities.”
BUT Another solid year for Brunner