The Baring European Growth fund was launched in 1983 with the objective of achieving capital growth by investing in European equities. The calendar year performance of the fund for 1999 was 33.2% against a benchmark of 21.1%.
The graph is based on the results obtained using the return-based Portfolio Style Analyser by London-based firm Style Research, and shows the changes in investment style that the portfolio has had during a period of 12 months, starting in August 1999, based on the monthly historic data of the last four years.
For the analysis we have used a country-adjusted approach which shows the strong growth orientation of this UK authorised unit trust. The manager’s policy is that the trust will invest in equities in the major European markets although this does not prevent investment in the smaller markets and less-known stocks.
At the end of August last nearly 75% of the total assets were invested in large growth stocks and this proportion increased 12 months later were the figure was around 85%. The lowest exposure to large growth investments was registered in October last year were the figure was 68%.
The remaining assets of the fund are invested in large value equities which, even though at the end of the period only represented 13% of the total investments, reached almost 32% in October last year.
At the end of September the fund had 22% of its assets invest in French stocks, 17% in the Netherlands and 11% in Germany. The remaining assets were allocated in Sweden, Italy, Finland, Spain and Denmark. The size of the fund amounts to £631m (E752m) and it tracks the MSCI Europe (ex-UK) benchmark.