Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust has achieved a net asset value per share total return of 4.1 per cent in the first half of 2015, a year after fund manager responsibilities were transferred to Paul Niven.
The company managed a 4 per cent share price total return, compared with 2.2 per cent from the FTSE World Index, according to its unaudited results for the half year ended June 30 this year.
Chairman Simon Fraser said the company had benefited from a decision to allocate more capital to the European and Japanese markets.
He also acknowledged that growth had remained “patchy” in the global economy but said further signs of ongoing improvement had led to a rise in bond yields.
Mr Fraser predicted that markets could price in a better economic outlook in coming quarters, in spite of the prospect of stresses in Greece, a US rate rise and an equity market bubble in China.
According to its results the company’s total dividend for 2015 can be expected to be at least 9.6 pence per share, up 3.2 per cent from the previous year.
