24th Nov 2016 11:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - JPMorgan European Smaller Cos Trust PLC on Thursday said it outperformed its benchmark in the six months ended September 30.
The investment trust said its net asset value total return over the six month period was 17.7%, compared to the benchmark Euromoney Smaller European Companies (ex UK) Index total return of 16.1% over the same period.
This outperformance was "largely due to stock selection", JPMorgan European Smaller Cos said.
The trust added that, over the first half, it also continued to diversify its portfolio away from companies which are dependent on general economic growth and focused on businesses benefiting from structurally growing end markets.
These included French retirement homes operator Korian, which the trust said was "benefiting from ageing populations", and Norwegian new challenger bank Skandiabanken, which "can offer attractive products to customers as it is unencumbered by the legacy problems faced by older rivals".
The trust declared an interim dividend of 1.20 pence per share, in line with the prior year.
JPMorgan European Smaller Cos added that there were currently no signs that the UK's vote to leave the European Union had negatively impacted European economies, though it said markets remain volatile "for several reasons".
"Perceptions are that the era of global loose monetary policy is coming to an end with a possible interest rate increase in the US in December, the potential end of the ECB's quantitative easing programme in March 2017 and China acting to cool its housing market. The impacts will be felt both on the real economy and stock markets via increasing the risk premia," the trust's Investment Managers Jim Campbell, Francesco Conte and Edward Greaves said.
"Following the result of election in the US, we expect political uncertainty to continue with the upcoming Italian referendum on constitutional reform, as well as elections in Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and France over the next twelve months. While these risks should not be exaggerated, it is possible that one or more of these events could lead to a market correction," the investment manager added.
Shares in JPMorgan European Smaller Cos were up 0.2% at 278.25p on Thursday.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
JESC.L