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LONDON (Alliance News) - Polar Capital Global Financials Trust PLC said Tuesday it underperformed its benchmark in a "topsy-turvy" year but increased its annual dividend payout.
The fixed life investment trust's net asset value per share at November 30 stood at 138.6 pence compared to 144.6p the year before, a 4.1% decrease.
The trust's net assets decreased 4.2% in the period to GBP281.0 million from GBP293.3 million the year before.
Polar Capital Global Financials' net asset value total return during the period was negative 1.5% compared to its benchmark, MSCI World Financials + Real Estate Net Total Return Index, shedding only 0.1%.
The trust increased its total dividend by 6.4% to 4.15p from 3.9p the year before.
Chair Robert Kyprianou said: "It has been a topsy-turvy year for global equity markets. Yet, as the year ended, global equities were bordering on bear market territory. Financials reflected these wavering fortunes. Growing doubts over the sustainable pace of economic activity and the outlook for official interest rates and bond yields contributed to an underperformance by the company's benchmark index. After a roller coaster ride, the benchmark index ended broadly flat on the year."
He continued: "Your manager continued to add value through stock selection. However, the portfolio's overweight exposure to European stocks, largely focused on banks, and underweight exposure to US financials, in particular to REITs, contributed to the overall underperformance. Although currency exposure helped the value of the company's portfolio in absolute terms, relative to the portfolio's benchmark currency made a small negative contribution. Currency exposure is a residual risk that arises from the manager's bottom-up, stock selection investment style rather than from an active management decision."
The trust has a fixed life that expires in May 2020.
Shares in Polar Capital Global Financials Trust were down 0.4% Tuesday at 126.56 pence each.