The £1bn investment trust, which is managed by Invesco Perpetual’s Mark Barnett, continues to focus on UK companies that can generate long-term returns irrespective of their position in the economic cycle. Dividends are a key driver of long-term returns for investors and in this respect the trust has a strong track record, having increased its aggregate dividend by 8% on an annualised basis over the last 10 years. The dividend yield currently stands at a relatively attractive 3.3%.
Unusually, PLI’s results were slightly disappointing over the 12 months to 31 March 2017 – its net asset value (NAV) rose 9.6% compared to a 22% rise in its FTSE All Share benchmark. This lacklustre performance was mainly due to the sector split, where PLI’s minimal exposure to recovering mining and banking stocks held the fund back. PLI has for some time been underweight the mining sector, which is very cyclical in nature and thus contradicts its strategy; however the rise in commodity prices and falling pound led to strong outperformance by the sector in the period in question.
Despite this latest set of results, our views on PLI have not changed. We remain confident in Mark Barnett’s abilities and experience. This is more than demonstrated by the long term performance of the fund, with the share price increasing 132% over the past 10 years compared to 70% for the FTSE All Share Index. In addition to this, the fund continues to trade at an attractive 7% discount to NAV.
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