Trustnet Magazine 92 February 2023 | Page 52

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Personal Assets Trust

The consensus among analysts is that few trusts are better placed to protect your money than this Troy-managed vehicle

While the global market appears to be looking for any excuse to begin its recovery , plenty of risks remain . For investors who aren ’ t ready to jump two-footed into equities , Personal Assets Trust is one option . Managed by Troy ’ s Sebastian Lyon , the trust seeks to deliver real returns after inflation , with a strong emphasis on capital preservation rather than performance relative to a benchmark . It follows a multi-asset approach , combining exposure to blue-chip equities , index-linked bonds to protect against inflation , gold , short-dated bonds and cash . Jason Hollands , managing director at Bestinvest , said the trust has a strong track record of providing steady returns and protecting capital in tougher markets .
Dzmitry Lipski , head of funds research at interactive investor , called it “ the ultimate no-surprises vehicle ”, aided by a zero-discount policy . “ The more conservative positioning means longer-term performance doesn ’ t stun , but it displays minimal downside volatility compared with its benchmark ,” he said . “ This is especially true where markets have rallied and Personal Assets ’ returns have been muted compared with purer equity strategies .” For example , Personal Assets Trust has made 56.8 % over the past 10 years , well below the 84.9 % made by the FTSE All Share . However , its maximum drawdown over this time is just 11.3 %, compared with 32.7 % from the index . Its performance last year was aided by a preference for short-dated debt
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