LONDON (Alliance News) - Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC on Tuesday said it had a year of underperformance against its benchmark in 2015.
The trust's total return on net assets was -1.0% in 2015, which compares with a total return for the FTSE All Share Index of 1.0%.
"The year under review has seen a continuation of volatile markets together with conditions generally unfavourable for Temple Bar's value oriented investment approach," Chairman John Reeve said.
"It is always disappointing when the trust endures periods of underperformance but this is a natural consequence of our chosen investment style which very much favours a longer term standpoint. Temple Bar continues to outperform its benchmark over both five and ten year periods," he added.
"There is no getting away from the fact that the last few years have been an uncomfortable time for committed adherents of the value investing approach. While in relative terms our portfolio has suffered as a consequence, investment is a long term matter and I am reassured that many of our shareholders appear to understand this," Reeve said.
"They appreciate that the value investment style is inherently cyclical but that, if one is patient and adheres to this approach, eventually some great opportunities will arise. Clearly we hope that this occurs sooner rather than later but if needs be we will remain patient before investing any of the surplus cash currently held on the portfolio," he added.
Shares in the trust were down 0.3% at 987.94 pence on Tuesday afternoon.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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Temple Bar Investment Trust (TMPL)