TRUSTS
TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST
The contrarian approach taken by manager Alastair Mundy means Temple Bar can often
lag its peers - which is the case today. But does this make it the perfect time to buy?
trustnet.com
term investors given that both the
shares and underlying portfolio
are cheap.
Investors who buy in now will no
doubt hope Mundy can repeat his
performance since he took on the
portfolio in October 2002.
However, there is another
reason why investors may want to
take a closer look at Temple Bar.
It is, after all, an equity income
trust and its yield of 3.3 per cent
looks attractive considering the
yields on offer from cash and
bonds. Investment trusts can
also “smooth” their dividends
by retaining 15 per cent of their
annual earnings so they can
maintain or increase their payout
in bad years – a feature not
available to their open-ended
rivals.
This has helped Temple Bar
increase its dividend in every one
of the last 31 years. For example,
its dividend was 25.59p per share
in 2002, while last year it was
38.88p.
Given the manager’s track
record, the trust’s dividend history
and the fact the portfolio – both at
a share price and und