Monks investment trust switches to equities

The Monks Investment Trust has almost halved its fixed interest weighting over the last year as mana...

The Monks Investment Trust has almost halved its fixed interest weighting over the last year as manager Richard Burns switched back into equities. Since April 2002 the £607m portfolio, managed by Baillie Gifford, reduced its bond exposure from 16.5% to 8.4% a year later. While Burns remains far from bullish on equities, he felt that last year the asset class was beginning to show decent value and levels of income at a time when low rates meant bonds were becoming less attractive. Some £95m was raised by gilt sales and of that figure, £20.6m was used to finance buybacks and £60.7m was ...