Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust – Quality businesses at sensible prices
Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust (MTE) has a focused portfolio of growing companies selected for the quality of their business franchise, management, earnings and corporate structure. This emphasis on quality has stood it in good stead as investors have become increasingly nervous. The result is that MTE is the best-performing European smaller companies trust by some margin (see page 13).
European smaller companies lagged larger ones in the second half of 2018, bucking a long-term trend. There may be good reasons for investors’ unease with the European economy, but the structural growth themes that MTE’s portfolio is exposed to should persist regardless.
Continental European smaller companies
MTE aims to achieve capital growth by investing principally in Continental European quoted smaller companies. The benchmark index is the MSCI Europe ex UK Small Cap Index (in sterling terms).
| wdt_ID | Year ended | Share price total return (%) | NAV total return (%) | MSCI Europe ex UK Small Cap TR (%) | MSCI Europe ex UK TR (%) | MSCI World total return (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28/02/15 | (9.1) | (5.3) | 0.7 | 4.5 | 17.0 |
| 2 | 28/02/16 | 12.9 | 13.9 | 6.8 | (6.0) | (1.3) |
| 3 | 28/02/17 | 23.2 | 28.5 | 30.4 | 26.2 | 35.8 |
| 4 | 28/02/18 | 28.0 | 16.9 | 20.2 | 11.2 | 6.0 |
| 5 | 28/02/19 | 7.0 | 6.3 | (10.0) | (3.6) | 4.0 |
MTE : Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust – Quality businesses at sensible prices