Alliance Trust cautious on consumer stocks

20th May 2010 07:54

Investment company Alliance Trust remains wary of consumer sectors and will continue to focus on companies with strong balance sheets in these times of economic turbulence.The company's net asset value (NAV) total return in the three months to 30 April was up 11.4%, which though it lagged the 13.1% rise in the FTSE All World Index over the same period outstripped the 8.8% increase on the UK's FTSE All Share index.Total net assets at the end of April stood at £2,767.1m. Portfolio weightings over the three month period changed little. "We continue to be cautious of Consumer sectors and will remain underweight in these areas, as we are in Financials, Telecommunications and Utilities," the company said.In contrast the company retains a preference for investing in companies with exposure to Asian growth.In developed markets, the "lower for longer" regime from Central Banks will persist in the short term and equities and other risk assets will attract greater inflows and potentially add further to market gains, the company predicted.