InvestmentsMar 4 2019

Smith's trust prepared for Brexit opportunities

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Smith's trust prepared for Brexit opportunities

Smithson, the small and mid-cap investment trust launched by Terry Smith last year, has 19 per cent of its cash invested in the UK, with the fund managers viewing Brexit uncertainty as an opportunity.

Mr Smith has previously spoken in favour of the UK leaving the EU, saying Britain would be "absolutely fine" outside the bloc in the run-up to the 2016 referendum.

He acts as the £942m trust's chief investment officer while Simon Barnard and Will Morgan are its managers.

In the trust's half year report Mr Barnard wrote: "Many may be surprised to see such a high allocation to companies listed in the UK during the current period of uncertainty caused by Brexit.

"However, it is actually because of this uncertainty that such great companies in the UK are trading at attractive valuations, especially considering that the businesses we have chosen will potentially be little affected by the outcome of Brexit, particularly when taking a long term view."

Among the UK mid and small caps held in the trust is Halma, an information technology company, and Dominos Pizza.

The largest sector exposure is to the US, which makes up more than 50 per cent of the trust's holdings.

Nearly half of the trust's assets - 48.9 per cent - are invested in the telecom, media and technology sector and its single largest holding is Ansys, an American company which makes software used to design semiconductors.

Mr Barnard said the average length of time the companies in his portfolio had been trading was 47 years.

The trust, launched to invest in global mid-sized and smaller companies, has returned 10 per cent since launch, compared with a return of 3.7 per cent for the AIC Global Smaller Companies sector.

When the trust launched, it was the largest initial public offering in UK investment trust in history, raising over £800m, breaking the record previously set by Neil Woodford's Patient Capital trust.

david.thorpe@ft.com