February 2010
Performance
The capital NAV of the Trust fell by 2.9% in January which was in line with the return from the S&P 500 Composite Index. The Company bought back 87,500 shares for cancellation during the month.
After a buoyant start to the year, equity markets sold-off, driven by a mix of disappointing US employment data, President Obama’s proposals for bank regulation, sovereign risk worries in the eurozone and expectations about China tightening monetary policy.
The Federal Open Market Committee left policy rates on hold and comments from Fed officials continued to suggest that they remain concerned about the economic recovery, with the housing market and consumer balance sheets noted as worries for this year. These concerns were substantiated by mixed economic data. The economy in the fourth quarter of 2009 surged by 5.7%, which was above consensus estimates, with the recovery being driven by a sharp slowdown in inventory liquidation. The December US employment report was disappointing, new home sales fell to the lowest level since March but consumer confidence rose to its highest level since September
Activity
The only changes to the constituents of the Index in January were NRG Energy replacing Sun Microsystems which was acquired by Oracle.
Strategy
The portfolio replicates in full the constituents and weightings of the S&P 500
Composite Index.
Source: Monthly Factsheet Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited