In November the trust’s NAV was up 0.4% on a total return basis, the share price was up 1.1% while the index was up 0.6%.
Technology has been both a boost and problem for the trust, depending on which stock you look at.
Train noted the good performers for him last month were Sage which gained 7.5%, RELX which rose 3% and Hargreaves Lansdown which put on 3.5%.
On the other side of the coin the Daily Mail fell 4.5%, Pearson another 4% and Burberry was down 6%. Train said these three are having ‘mixed success’ in using technology to update and upgrade their long-established franchises.
Train said ‘lacklustre performance’ seen in 2015 as a whole is due to a broader issue, with a lack of ‘tech giants’ in the United Kingdom being a drag on trusts like his.
“We just don’t have the Amazons, Googles and Facebooks of the US, all of which are making all-time highs this year, because of the secular business growth they offer,” he said. “We’ve sought to capture some of this missing growth effect by investing in what we regard as the best of what the UK does have to offer in tech and media.”
The trust had net assets of £727.8m and a market cap of £733.7m as of the end of November.
