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Dividend heroes: Perpetual Income & Growth

INVESTMENT TRUST PROFILE: Defensive focus has served the trust well
February 16, 2009

Like Edinburgh Investment Trust (another of our investment trust dividend heroes), Perpetual Income & Growth is also under the wing of Invesco Perpetual but a different manager, Mark Barnett. Its dividend yield is 4.0 per cent. Unlike the Edinburgh Investment Trust, it has a small exposure to international equities.

202p

Mr Barnett started putting the trust on a more defensive footing as far back as the last quarter of 2006.

The portfolio has become more concentrated over time, with the emphasis on defensive sectors such as telecommunications, energy, big pharma and tobacco. The only financial stocks on the portfolio are Hiscox and Provident Financial.

Mr Barnett says: "Companies that can maintain their dividends over the next two years will attract a premium."

"We've placed particular importance on identifying companies with strong balance sheets and good capital positions. Sound financing is absolutely crucial in the current atmosphere, and while there's been recent focus on the corporate bond market, only a fairly narrow band of companies could hope to raise capital in this manner because investors have become far more discerning."

PERPETUAL INCOME & GROWTH
PRICE202NAV195.94
SIZE OF FUND£496mPRICE DISCOUNT TO NAV2.33
No OF HOLDINGS:471 YEAR SHARE PERFORMANCE-15
SET UP DATE21 Mar 963 YEAR SHARE PERFORMANCE-3.6
MANAGER START DATE30 Dec 055 YEAR SHARE PERFORMANCE47.4
TURNOVERnaTOTAL EXPENSE RATIO1.92%
VOLATILITYnaYIELD3.99
TRACKING ERRORnaMORE DETAILSinvescoperpetual.co.uk
3 YEAR SHARPE RATIO-0.71 

TOP TEN HOLDINGS%
Imperial Tobacco 5.9
British Energy 5.2
BG5
AstraZeneca 5
BP 4.9
GlaxoSmithKline 4.9
Vodafone 4.9
British American Tobacco 4.8
Reynolds American (US Common Stock) 4.8
Tesco4.2

SECTOR BREAKDOWNSector
Utilities  17.9
Consumer Goods17.7
Oil & Gas15.5
Healthcare12.7
Consumer Services10.3
Telecommunications8.4
Financials7.7
Industrials7.3
Technology2
Basic Materials0.5

Source: Fact Sheet, Morningstar & Datastream