Janus Henderson’s £1bn Bankers Investment Trust has reported flat performance figures over the six months to 30 April 2017.
Over this period, the trust saw a 7 per cent increase in net asset value total return per share. A similar rise of 7.1 per cent was also recorded in the FTSE All-Share Index.
Overall the trust's share price rose 12.3 per cent during the period.
The trust’s annual performance saw net asset value per share rise from 623.7p at 30 April 2016 to 798.3p at 30 April 2017.
The investment company's share price increased from 587p to 765.5p, while revenue return per share reached 9.35p, up from 8.57p. The discount dropped from 5.9 per cent to 4.1 per cent.
Richard Killingbeck, chairman of the Bankers Investment Trust, said: “It is pleasing to be able to report a positive return from our diversified portfolio of international equities.
"Global equity markets have continued to attain record high levels in most markets, led by North America, as the economic growth outlook has become established and the corporate outlook more positive.
“We have gradually increased our weighting to North America during the past three years and, at one point during the period under review, this region represented our largest regional weighting in the portfolio. In the six months to the end of April the North American region rose in sterling terms by 10 per cent, significantly ahead of the local index return of just under 7 per cent."
Mr Killingbeck added Europe was the second best performing region over the period, with an increase of 9.7 per cent, while results in the Far East offered “mixed returns.”
Turning to the future, Mr Killingbeck said: “The political instability in the UK, following the general election, could still generate unwelcome surprises and the outcome was certainly not the strong mandate which the Prime Minister was seeking ahead of the "Brexit" negotiations. The twists and turns of these negotiations will definitely impact UK sentiment during the next two years.”
Mr Killingbeck also commented on the merger between Henderson Group and Janus Capital Group, announced in May.
He said: “The board believe that the opportunities that this merger will bring specifically in regard to greater global fund management resource being available will be positive for the employees and also for the longer term management of the company.”
