8th Mar 2018 12:58
The trust posted a net asset value per share total return of 21% for the year, and despite being an improvement from the 12% reported the year before, it still fell short of the MSCI Emerging and Frontier Markets Index, which returned 25%.
Net asset value per share as at the end of December was
The trust's share price at the end of 2017 was
Shares in Fundsmith Emerging Equities Trust were up 0.2% at
The trust attributed the total return underperformance to the benchmark index's composition being very different to Fundsmith's portfolio, with the MSCI being more weighted towards IT and Financials, which the trust said it does not and will not own.
Also geographically, the best performing emerging market during the period was
"In any event, we will not be altering our strategy of seeking to invest in good companies which benefit from the rise of the consumer in emerging and frontier markets no matter how much money flows into exchange-traded funds or how companies which fail our standards perform," said Terry Smith of investment manager Fundsmith LLP.
"We may well miss the opportunity to obtain better performance in the short term by sticking to our last but we simply do not wish to assume the risk of weighting a significant proportion of the portfolio in stocks which carry the risks associated with cyclicality, leverage, opaque accounting and poor protection for minority shareholders," Smith added.
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