Factsheet

Investment Objective

The Company will invest in equities on a global basis. The Company’s approach is to be a long term investor in its chosen stocks.  It will not adopt short-term trading strategies. The Company has stringent investment criteria which the ACD and Investment Manager adhere to in selecting securities for the Company’s investment portfolio.  These criteria aim to ensure that the Company invests in high quality businesses which in the opinion of the ACD and Investment Manager are those: 

• high quality businesses that can sustain a high return on operating capital employed;
• businesses whose advantages are difficult to replicate;
• businesses which do not require significant leverage to generate returns;
• businesses with a high degree of certainty of growth from reinvestment of their cash flows at high rates of return;
• businesses that are resilient to change, particularly technological innovation;
• businesses whose valuation is considered to be attractive.

The Company will not invest in businesses which have substantial interests in any of the following sectors:

Aerospace and Defence Brewers, Distillers and Vintners Casinos and Gaming Gas and Electric Utilities

Metals & Mining Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels Pornography Tobacco

In addition, the ACD and the Investment Manager apply further criteria to screen investments in accordance with the ACD's sustainable investment policy. The ACD evaluates sustainability in the widest sense, taking account not only the companies handling of environmental, social and governance policies and practices but also their policies and practices on research and development, new product innovation, dividend policy and the adequacy of capital investment.

Principal Risks

• The value of companies invested in, and therefore the value of the fund, will rise and fall, and there is no guarantee that you will get your investment back. An investment in the fund should only be made by those persons who are able to sustain a loss on their investment. The Shares should be viewed as long term investments (at least 5 years).
• The fund's portfolio is a global portfolio and many of the investments are not denominated in GBP. There is no currency hedging made by the fund. The GBP price of the shares may therefore rise or fall purely on account of exchange rate movements.
• The fund's portfolio complies with the UCITS requirements on spread of investment. Having said that, application of the investment criteria described above significantly limits the number of potential investments: the fund generally invests in 20 to 30 stocks and so it is more concentrated than many other funds. This means that the performance or underperformance of a single stock has a greater effect on the price of the fund.
• If you are unsure about the suitability of the fund for you, please seek professional advice.
• Past performance is not a guide to future performance.