JAPAN'S continuing woes and the Asian financial crisis took
the edge off the internationally focused Securities Trust of Scotland's performance during the 12 months to March 31.
The highly geared investment trust, which had total assets of #545m at end-March and is managed by Edinburgh-based Martin Currie, achieved a 28% rise in net asset value to 144.43p.
Though this was ahead of the 26.7% advance by the FT/S&P World Index during the 12 months, it was adrift of the 32.5% increase in Securities Trust's chosen benchmark, the UK's All-Share Index.
The trust's UK equity and fixed-interest portfolios, which account for 68% of gross assets, each out-performed the All-Share.
Securities Trust escaped the worst of the Asian crisis because it was not in Malaysia, Indonesia or the Philippines. But, referring to its holdings in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, India and Australia, trust manager Michael Gibson admitted the region had not helped the trust's overall result.
The same was true of Japan. But Gibson remains comfortable with the fund's 7% exposure to the battered Japanese stock market. He believes the multinationals in which it is invested, such as Sony, will benefit from strong demand in the West and the weaker yen.
Though acknowledging UK and US equities are at ''very high levels'', Gibson is confident the economic upturn can be extended.
Highlighting his belief that the weight of cash flowing into markets could push them even higher, he added: ''I think we are in unusually good times at the moment.''
Securities Trust is raising its total dividend by 5.1% to 3.94p with a final payout of 2.77p, of which 0.22p will be paid as a foreign income dividend.
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