In focus
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[ SECTOR PROFILE ]
Adam Lewis runs the rule over how global investment trust managers
have shifted their regional allocation in light of the coronavirus crisis
Coping strategies
F
ew commentators predicted
stock markets would repeat
their dizzying gains of 2019
this year. However, none
at all anticipated that, four months
into 2020, a combination of a global
pandemic and a crash in oil prices
would send every major equity market
on the planet into a tailspin.
A common analogy is that while China
sneezed first, it has been the rest of the
world that has caught the cold. The
MSCI China index has fallen just 4.08
per cent year to date, but the S&P 500
is down 14.23 per cent, the Nikkei 225
14.62 per cent, the Euro STOXX 21.34 per
cent and the FTSE 100 23.84 per cent.
Unsurprisingly, such falls
have led to a sense of panic
and, in the investment
trust world, a widening of
discounts
TRUSTNET
Unsurprisingly, such falls have
led to a sense of panic and, in the
investment trust world, a widening of
discounts. According to Winterflood,
the average discount across the AIC
universe at the start of 2020 was 1
per cent, which had widened to 5 per
cent at the start of March.
Set against this backdrop,
we spoke to the
managers of global
investment trusts
to see how they
have changed
their regional
allocation
and which
trusts look
particularly
appealing
in this
current
climate.
trustnet.com