A look at the Post-brexit world

Last week’s Scotsman conference – Investing in a Post-brexit world – drew a large and engaged audience and attracted many well-known figures from the investment world.

Tom Walker, manager of the Global Portfolio Investment Trust run out of event sponsor Martin Currie, gave a creditable account of the trust performance to date. Results just out for the 12 months to 31 January recorded a Net Asset Value (NAV) total return of 29.7 per cent and a total share price return of 32.1 per cent.

The share price return has been achieved with lower volatility than almost all investment trusts in the peer group and with an active, high-conviction style of investing. In addition, the company has steadily grown its dividend over the years.

Bob Hair of Cazenove Capital Management spoke on the tax terrain ahead for Scotland – little of this at all reassuring. And the two “outriders” on the panel – Merryn Somerset Webb of Money Week and Russell Napier, co-founder of ERIC Electronic Research – made stimulating contributions. Russell focused on growing global debt and the danger of a geo-political “Black Swan” event in Turkey while Merryn gave an insightful presentation on the forces behind the upsurge against political elites in America and Europe. These are popular events for retail investors as well as for the many investment professionals, analysts and IFAS who attended. We hope to stage another one in the autumn.