Global Opportunities Trust, the investment trust of which I am the Executive Director, published its latest annual results on April 10th 2024, revealing a modest 1.7% Net Asset Value total return for the twelve months ending 31st December 2023. You can read the announcement here and download the Annual Report from the trust’s website, together with my assessment of the outlook. While it is evident that global equity markets remained more resilient than I expected over the course of 2023, the fundamental factors that underpin and explain the cautious positioning and strategy of the trust remain unchanged.
“Rather than a rosy economic environment ahead ” I conclude “the storm clouds look to be gathering. Sovereign bond prices may not suffer too much from here, but one has to expect credit spreads to widen and for equities eventually to react to an environment in which profit progression becomes increasingly difficult. Policymakers should be aware also of the tail risk of sovereign credit risk becoming a theme the vulture funds can latch onto. The deterioration in Germany’s economic position is particularly worthy of note”. The AGM of the company is on May 16th in Edinburgh.
Sandy Nairn 