Edinburgh is one of
the largest investment trusts on the market with assets of over £1.7bn. It is managed
by Mark Barnett.
The trust invests
primarily in UK securities with the long term objective of achieving:
1. an increase of
the Net Asset Value per share by more than the growth in the FTSE All-Share
Index; and,
2. growth in
dividends per share by more than the rate of UK inflation.
The trust holds just
over 50% FTSE 100 companies, 23% second tier FTSE 250 and 15% of the portfolio
comprise overseas listed holdings. This is probably not one for ethical
investors - 4 of the top 10 holdings are tobacco companies and together account
for just over 20% of the portfolio.
Edinburgh has been
one of the cornerstones of my income portfolio held in both Sipp drawdown and
ISA for many years. The sum of £1,000 invested in 2007 would now be worth
£2,370 - the second best performer in the UK equity income sector behind
Finsbury Gr. & Income Trust.
Results
The Company's net
asset value, including reinvested dividends, rose by 14.1% during the year,
compared to 22.0% (total return) for the benchmark FTSE All-Share Index.
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5 Yr Comparison v VLS 80 (click to enlarge) |
Income per share over
the year has increased by 4.5% to 27.9p. The board are proposing a final
dividend of 9.15p making a total of 25.35p for the full year - an increase of 1.0p or 4.1%
which is a small improvement on the previous year. Based on the current
price of 760p, the yield is therefore 3.3%.
Last year the trust
outperformed the benchmark by 8% - this year it has fallen short by 8%. Over 10
years, the return is very good but over 5 years the record is more average and
dividend growth is below par at just 1.8% p.a. This is the 3rd full year in charge for
Mark Barnett after taking over from Neil Woodford.
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...and over 2 Years |
There are some
managers who can consistently outperform the market but the evidence shows that
over time most fail and this is why I have been moving a larger proportion of
my portfolio into low cost index funds over the past couple of years.
I will be
trimming my current holdings in this trust but will give Mr Barnett a little
more time to see if he is one of the few who can consistently beat the
benchmark over the longer periods - time will tell.
All in all, not such
a good year but the longer term record remains acceptable. Lets see how things
pan out over the coming 12 months....