During April, our net asset value return was 5.8% and shareholder returns were 7.2% in comparison to the FTSE All World return of 6.9% in sterling terms.

Global equity markets showed strong gains over April. The recovery in sentiment from March was driven by optimism surrounding the Middle East peace talks, despite a lack of clarity on progress and ongoing disruption to oil supplies. Resilient corporate earnings, led by financial and technology companies, as well as continuing enthusiasm for the broader AI theme boosted equities.

US equities (7.2%) performed strongly in this environment, despite economic data showing the impact of the conflict, with consumer confidence declining and headline inflation reaching a two-year high. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 11.3%, with Korea (33.4%) and Taiwan (21.9%) among the top performers, driven by their sizable technology sectors. Japanese stocks (5.7%) were boosted by investor optimism surrounding Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s pro-growth agenda. Gains in Europe (4.8%) were more modest due to the region’s exposure to energy prices. Performance in UK stocks was weaker (2.2%); as the UK economy received the biggest downgrade in the G7 by the IMF.  

Bond markets were mixed, with US, UK, and German government bond yields all rising as markets priced in higher inflation and tighter monetary policy expectations. The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as expected, but a split vote with four policymakers dissenting clouded the outlook. The European Central Bank and Bank of England also left rates unchanged, with markets expecting rate hikes before the end of the year. The Bank of Japan left rates unchanged, but their hawkish tone and inflation forecasts strengthened expectations of a rate hike in the near term.

The overweight position in Monolithic Power Systems (43.2%), which provides power and power controls systems to a range of businesses including datacentres, was the top contributor to excess returns. The underweight position in Amazon (23.5%), the e-commerce and cloud computing giant, detracted from performance as the shares bounced back after the technology sector slump in the first quarter.

We ended the month at a discount of 8.3%, narrowing from 9.5% in March. Net gearing continued to be conservative at 3.6% (with debt at fair value) for month-end.

As at 30 April 2026