Comtrust Equity Fund up 9.6% in 1H16, outperforms All Share Price Index

Wednesday, 11 November 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Comtrust Equity Fund, a Balanced Fund investing in both equity and fixed income, rose 9.6% for the six months ended 30 September 2015 (1H16), recording an over performance of 6.2% vs. the benchmark All Share Price Index (ASPI), which rose 3.4% during the same time period. The Fund also beat the more liquid S&P SL20 index which declined 0.7%, and the All Share Total Returns Index (ASTRI – inclusive of dividends) which rose 3.6% for 1H16.

Additionally, the Fund has also performed well in 2015 YTD, rising 12.3% for the period 31 December 2014 – 30 September 2015; outperforming the ASPI and S&P SL20 by 15.7% and 18.7% respectively.

Over the past three years, the Fund has achieved a CAGR of 14.2%, whereas the both the ASPI and S&P SL20 recorded a three year CAGR of 5.7% each, and ASTRI posted a return of7.8% for the corresponding time period.

Further, this is the fifth consecutive year that the Fund has maintained a distribution of Rs. 2 per unit as dividends. The dividend yield has also been fairly attractive, having given an average of 10.9% for the past five years.

“The strategy to capitalise on benefits accruing to the consumer and manufacturing sectors at the beginning of the year via salary increases and cost of living reductions has paid off rich dividends,” said Comtrust Asset Management Ltd. Senior Fund Manager Thinushka Soysa.

Thinushka has managed the Comtrust Equity Fund for the past three and a half years, prior to which she held the position of Senior Equity Analyst, covering multiple sectors at CT CLSA Securities Ltd. She counts nearly seven years of industry experience within the fields of Fund Management, Equity Research and Analysis.

Comtrust Asset Management Ltd. is a pioneer Unit Trust Management company established in 1992 and manages funds with varied mandates including Unit Trusts, Islamic Funds as well as Corporate and HNW individual portfolios. Total assets under management in the unit trust category totalled Rs. 8.2 billion as at 30 September 2015. The company is backed by the strength of the Colombo Stock Exchange Listed Conglomerate CT Holdings PLC, and CLSA, Asia’s leading equity broker and investment group.