Private equity slows F&C

5th Mar 2010 07:09

Investment trust giant Foreign & Colonial saw its net asset value per share jump 18.8% in 2009, despite a fall in the value of its private equity portfolio.Net asset value per share at the end of the year was 304.7p. Net asset value total return was 21.3%, below the returns of the trust’s benchmark and its close peer group, where the returns were 23.4% and 27.9% respectively.‘Our private equity portfolio had a significant effect on our performance against the benchmark and the close peer group, as the indices do not include private equity and only one of our close peers has any exposure to this asset class,’ chairman Mark Loveday explained.The value of the private equity portfolio fell by 13.1% in 2009.Loveday said that 2009 was the worst year for UK and US dividends since the 1930s. Despite this the full year dividend has been hiked by 3.1% to 6.65p and the board is confident it will pay at least as much again in 2010.Income in 2009 totalled £52.69m, down from £67.92m in 2008. Net return before tax eased to £37.78m from £53.11m the year before.‘After the sharp rises of the last twelve months we are expecting markets to be volatile in 2010,’ Loveday predicted. ‘The Alternative Investment Fund Management EU Directive, which is expected to come into effect in 2012, will result in some changes and extra expense for investment companies,’ Loveday said, adding that the company, along with the Association of Investment Companies ‘are lobbying hard to ensure that this EU Directive is not unduly restrictive.’