January 2010
Performance
The capital NAV of the Trust rose by 3.5% in December which was slightly ahead of the return
from the S&P 500 Composite Index. The Company bought back 234,121 shares for cancellation
during the month.
Markets continued to rally in December and reached 12 month highs towards the end of the
month. The much stronger than expected US employment report at the beginning of the
month led to a positive shift in sentiment to the US dollar and prompted a reconsideration of
monetary policy. While the Federal Reserve maintained its stance of keeping the fed funds rate
at low levels for an extended period, its statement that it would shut down some of its liquidity
facilities when the economy improves gave a further boost to investor sentiment. Abu Dhabi’s
decision to bail out Dubai World with US$10bn helped reduce debt concerns and boosted
banking stocks. In commodities, gold declined 7% in December, mainly due to the rebound in
the dollar, but copper continued its upward trend and gained 6.4%.
Activity
The changes to the constituents of the Index in December were Mead Johnson Nutrition, Visa,
Ross Stores, Cliffs Natural Resources, SAIC and Roper replacing MBIA, Ciena, Dynegy, KB Home,
Convergys and Ensco International.
Strategy
The portfolio replicates in full the constituents and weightings of the S&P 500
Composite Index.
Source: Monthly Factsheet Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited