LONDON (Alliance News) - JPMorgan European Investment Trust PLC said Friday deteriorating market sentiment in Europe led to an underperformance in both of its portfolios, in its recently ended financial year.
As at March 31, JPMorgan European's net asset value per growth share declined to 324.0 pence from 338.5p the same date the year before.
The net asset value per Income share at the end of March was 172.0p, down from 175.8p the prior year.
The net asset value negative return from the Growth and Income portfolios were 7.9% and 4.7% respectively, falling behind its benchmark, the MSCI Europe Index (excluding the UK), which had a positive return of 2.2%.
Shares in JPMorgan European Investment Trust were down 0.8% at 148.73 pence on Friday
The trust said that the "disappointing" performance was due to volatile market conditions, as a result of continued trade tensions between the US and China, as well as contracting global economic growth and political uncertainties including Brexit.
JPMorgan European paid a dividend per growth share of 8.85 pence, up from 6.85p the prior year. Per Income share the trust paid 6.25p, up from 5.80p.
"The board and managers are mindful of the political uncertainties of investing in Europe which currently include Brexit and the influence of populist parties, together with ongoing trade tensions between the US and China, which impacts global stock markets. However, we believe that, within the company's risk parameters, satisfactory returns are achievable given the proven stock selection skills demonstrated consistently over the medium and longer term," said Chair Josephine Dixon.