Gearing blunts returns on Asia Pacific trust

Schroder Asia Pacific hit by gearing in falling markets, detracting from strong country and stock selection over six months

Gearing has detracted from strong country and stock selection on the Schroder Asia Pacific investment trust over recent months. Manager Matthew Dobbs said the trust has performed in line with its index over six months to 31 March, with average returns mainly due to using gearing in declining markets. Gearing was at 7.35% at the start of the six months increasing, to 9.95% at the end of March. "This has more than offset the benefit of both country allocation and stock selection," added Dobbs. "In terms of country allocation, we have benefited from underweights in China and Korea and...