Fundsmith Equity ditches Brown-Forman after decline in stocks since the beginning of the year

Builds up position in EssilorLuxottica

Terry Smith’s flagship Fundsmith Equity fund has exited its position in Brown-Forman following a period of declining stocks for the alcoholic beverage maker.

In its June factsheet, Fundsmith Equity listed Brown-Forman as one of the strategy's top detractors alongside Automatic Data Processing, Visa, Unilever and Procter & Gamble. Brown-Forman's share price has fallen by 24.4% since the beginning of the year although it has made a 10.1% recovery in the last five days, according to data from MarketWatch. Gold, Europe, property and renewables dominate active fund returns in H1 Elsewhere in the report, the fund built a holding in EssilorLuxottica – an eyewear and ophthalmic lenses business – last month. The latest changes to the por...