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First State Infrastructure survives crunch

FUND PROFILE: First State Global Listed Infrastructure Fund proved itself during the worst of the financial crisis.
July 12, 2010

First State Global Listed Infrastructure Fund is one of the highest yielding funds in the Investment Management Association (IMA) Specialist sector, offering 3.31 per cent yield. This is a reflection of its underlying investments in sectors with predictable cash flows, according to Andy Parsons, advice team manager at the Share Centre.

106.83pp

Over the last year the fund has been marginally ahead of its benchmark, the UBS Global Infrastructure & Utilities 50-50 Index, and has outperformed by a greater margin over three and six months.

First State Global Listed Infrastructure aims for capital growth and inflation protected income by investing in a globally-diversified portfolio of listed infrastructure companies. First State highlights the robust operational performance of infrastructure assets through the worst of the global financial crisis due to high barriers to entry, pricing power, sustainable growth and predictable cash flow. In 2008 the fund demonstrated its defensive credentials, losing less than half of what the Specialist sector and FTSE All-Share did - 13.61 per cent against 27.95 and 29.93 per cent respectively, although the fund significantly lagged rising markets in 2009.

Relative to some of its closed-ended peers which focus on public-private partnerships (PPP) or private finance initiatives (PFI), First State Global Listed Infrastructure invests in higher-risk areas such as toll roads, ports and airports which are more vulnerable to macro economic changes. But the portfolio is spread across a wide range of sectors and very well diversified geographically relative to many closed-end infrastructure funds, and hence is less vulnerable to government spending cuts in countries such as the UK.

"The fund is suitable for investors wanting global equity exposure while retaining a defensive and more balanced return," says Mr Parsons.

The fund's manager Peter Meany has 11 years' experience in global infrastructure securities having previously worked as an analyst at Credit Suisse and Macquarie Bank.

Full data and a PDF factsheet for First State Global Listed Infrastructure is available here.

FIRST STATE GLOBAL LISTED INFRASTRUCTURE A ACC (CFGLIA)

PRICE106.83pSHARPE RATIO0.19
SIZE OF FUND£156m**3-MTH  PERFORMANCE-3.52%
No OF HOLDINGS42**6-MTH PERFORMANCE0.41%
SET UP DATE8 October 20071-YR PERFORMANCE28.14%
MANAGER START DATE8 October 2007*TOTAL EXPENSE RATIO1.58%*
CHARGESInitial 4%, annual 1.5%YIELD3.31%
VOLATILITY2.2MINIMUM INVESTMENT£1,000
TRACKING ERROR2.09MORE DETAILSwww.firststate.co.uk

Source: Investors Chronicle and *Morningstar **First State

Performance figures as at 12 July 2010

Top-10 holdings as at 31 May 2010

HoldingPercentage
Crown Castle International6.20
Vinci5.30
Central Japan Railway4.50
Vopak3.90
Exelon Corp3.80
FPL Group 3.60
E.ON3.40
Atlantia3.10
Public Services Enterprise3.10
Rubis3.00

Geographic breakdown

RegionPercentage
Europe ex-UK37.1
North America35.2
Japan11.1
UK7.1
Asia Pacific ex-Japan6.8
Cash2.7