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Edinburgh Dragon Trust outperforms

FUND PROFILE: A recent management change at the Edinburgh Dragon Trust
October 5, 2009

With funds under management hovering around the £500m mark, the Edinburgh Dragon Trust is one of the UK's largest investment trusts. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, the trust's investments are principally held in large-cap Asian companies (excluding Japan and Australasia). While holdings are not limited in terms of market capitalisation, sector or country weightings within the region, a maximum limit of 15 per cent applies in relation to the size of any single investment.

175p

In order to reduce segmental risk factors, the trust's portfolio reflects a diversified range of sectors and countries. The overall objective is to achieve capital growth, rather than income generation, although the relative size of the constituents should tend to aid the latter.

Launched in 1987, the trust has outstripped its benchmark - the MSCI AC Asia ex-Japan - and boasts a 142.4 per cent cumulative return.

Daily management of the trust has recently been passed to Peter Hames following the transfer of the trust's management agreement from Edinburgh Fund Managers to Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited (both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Aberdeen Asset Management).

Mr Hames joined Aberdeen in 1990 as an European investment manager, before transferring to the Asian equity desk. He pursues a bottom-up investment process where stock-picking is the major source of added value. The trust's hands-on investment policy dictates that no stock is bought without the fund managers having first met the management.

PRICE175.2pNAV195.38p
SIZE OF FUND£489mPRICE DISCOUNT TO NAV-8.38%
No OF HOLDINGS:481 YEAR PERFORMANCE (PRICE)41.64%*
SET UP DATE7 September 19873 YEAR PERFORMANCE (PRICE)13.8%*
MANAGER START DATE1 August 20095 YEAR PERFORMANCE (PRICE)19.31%*
BETA0.84*TOTAL EXPENSE RATIO1.20%
VOLATILITY 3-YR MEAN16.36%*YIELD0.82%*
TRACKING ERROR9.1%GEARING111%*
SHARPE RATIO0.45*MORE DETAILSedinburghdragon.co.uk

Source: Edinburgh Fund Managers & *Morningstar (02/10/09)

Top ten holdings (as at August 2009 )

HoldingPercentage
Jardine Strategic4.6
Samsung Electronics Pref. 4.5
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. 4.2
Swire Pacific ‘B’ 4.1
HDFC India3.7
PTT Exploration and Production    3.3
Singapore Technologies Engineering3.3
United Overseas Bank3.3
China Mobile 3.1
City Developments 3

Geographic breakdown

CountryPercentage
Singapore 28.4
Hong Kong 17.4
India 16.6
Korea8.3
China 7.4
Thailand 5.8
Malaysia 4.7
Taiwan 4.7
Philippines 2.5
Indonesia2.1
Sri Lanka 1.3
Cash0.8