(Alliance News) - JPMorgan American Investment Trust PLC on Thursday reported its net asset value beat its benchmark during the "surprising strength" of 2020.
The investment company net asset value total return for 2020 was 22%, outperforming its S&P 500 Index in sterling terms benchmark, which was up 14% due to a strengthening of the pound.
JPMorgan American said the discount of the share price to NAV widened slightly over the period to 5.0% from 4.3%, which produced a total return to shareholders for the year of 21%.
As at December 31, NAV per share stood at 610.1 pence, up 21% from 504.8p a year prior and NAV was GBP1.2 million, up 9.1% from GBP1.1 million.
Due to its strong results, JPMorgan declared a 2020 final dividend of 4.25p, up 6.3% from 4.0p year-on-year, resulting in a total dividend of 6.75p per share, a 3.8% increase from last year's 6.5p.
Shares in JPMorgan American were up 0.3% at 607.58p in London on Thursday.
During the year, 10.8 million shares were purchased into the treasury at a cost of GBP53.1 million, representing 5.1% of the company's issued share capital at the beginning of 2020. This is an increase on the GBP42.2 million spent in 2019 repurchasing 4.3% of the issued share capital.
Looking ahead, JPMorgan American said the "surprising strength" in 2020 anticipated much of what it now expects 2021 to deliver in terms of growth.
"At some point the market will have discounted, at least temporarily, the best outlook it can see ahead. This suggests that the year ahead could be punctuated by periods of market volatility. The managers will be aware of these risks as they continue to manage the portfolio through a bottom up stock picking approach to identifying attractive investments," said JPMorgan American.
By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com
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JPMorgan American (JAM)