- Emphasis on 'Best of British' boosted performance last month
- Five of the 10 trusts highlighted by our data-driven Alpha strategy focus on the UK
- Eclectic mix makes up the rest of the 10 trust portfolio for February
Markets have paused for breath since our last report but the UK focus of January’s investment trust picks, and a leaning towards smaller companies funds, proved beneficial. All five of the reports published since we launched this addition to our Alpha service in July last year currently show better performance than both the FTSE All Share and MSCI World index.
Keep buying British
As with last month, there is a single theme that stands out from Feburary’s 10 trust selection: Buy British.
Five of the 10 trusts have a UK focus. This includes North Atlantic Smaller Companies, which is classified as a global trust but is almost entirely focused on UK smaller companies.
A few things have changed over the last month concerning the investment case for UK equities. Firstly, while hard to measure precisely, the mood towards UK stocks seems to have become more positive. While this may not have been that evident in the performance of key stock market indices, the strength of sterling has been noticeable.
Attitudes around Brexit feel a bit less febrile than was the case when I wrote last month’s report. This has probably been helped by the relative success of the UK’s vaccine efforts compared with EU peers. Hopefully, though, there is something more substantive than Covid jingoism in the air. With any luck, all sides in the Brexit debate are beginning to be able to focus on the opportunities for the UK outside the EU given, like it or not, that is where the country's future lies.
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