holland44
11 Aug 2015
Re: Losing ground I agree FCS has been going nowhere since April 2015, but there have been all sorts of headwinds and the index and most similar trusts show the same pattern.I too wonder what competitor trusts you are using for your comparison. According to Trustnet, FCS is up 19.5% over a year, versus 14.3% for its Global IT benchmark, and 73.8% over 3 years versus 45.8%, which seems decent enough. Edinburgh Worldwide recently changed to a global small cap focus, and is up 24.8% over a year, but has a considerably higher risk rating than FCS at Trustnet and may still be unproven. Oryx International is also classified as Global Smaller Cos and has been doing very well but is “only” up 22.7% over a year, so FCS is not exactly a major laggard there. FCS has a Sharpe rating of 1.31 over a year and 1.67 over 3 years, so again, I wouldn't call this a failing trust.
marconiman
11 Aug 2015
Re: Losing ground The price is up 20% over 1 year, which is 5% better than the sector. It is also outperforming over 3 and 6 months, so I don't know where you get your information! Hold.
tejo
11 Aug 2015
Losing ground I have held FCS for many years and have been satisfied overall. However, of late, they seem to be losing ground against most if not all of their competitors. the fund manager is, I think the same and I wonder if it is down to the change in ownership of F and C. Any views on whether I should switch, please?
Orchard Gate
21 May 2015
Re: problem gain Yes excellent investment.Thanks for the advice Holland although think you'll find there must now be a 30 day gap between sale and repurchase. Added to which my and wife's CGT allowance is usually being used elsewhere (e.g. takeover of Brit gives wife a substantial gain this year).I guess my though process is it's gone up eightfold since I bought I should sell down or top slice but the gain is such it inhibits what would be a normal trade. But I accept it's a nice problem to have.
jsan22
19 May 2015
Re: problem gain Can't comment on your tax "problem"!!, but I guess the subtext of your post is that FCS has been an excellent long-term investment. It is one of 10 ITs I hold for the long term. I liked the look of FCS because it holds small companies globally, which seems to be quite rare in the UT and IT areas, and it also has performed relatively well during market falls, which is one of my personal benchmarks when picking out funds. It is also charges a low expense 0.79%. If I had enough money to buy a Premiership football team, I think I wouldn't invest in a football club (although it might get round your tax problems - you wouldn't be the first to use a football club to "wash" money
holland44
19 May 2015
Re: problem gain I forgot to add: if you re-purchase, do so from inside a SIPP or ISA, and you will never have a CGT problem or income tax on your dividends ever again.
holland44
19 May 2015
Re: problem gain Er, why not just spread your sale over more than one year? Have you not heard of bed and breakfasting? Sell, say, 50% of your shares on 4 April 2016 to use up your joint 2015-16 CGT allowances, and re-purchase on 6 April 2016. Then sell the other 50% on 6 April 2016 to use up your joint 2016-17 CGT allowances, and re-purchase the shares the next day. Outcome: your CGT problem is solved, and the only cost to you is some trading fees and 0.5% stamp duty, plus the share price spread.Or if you don't want to re-purchase, just sell the shares in chunks in different tax years to use up your allowances, and use the cash for something else.
Orchard Gate
19 May 2015
problem gain The only problem I have with this IT is that it was one of the first shares I ever invested in. When I began work and got rid of my overdraft I started a savings plan into this and (from memory) two other investment trusts. I put in £25 to each one every month and when I had a a little more money I increased this sum.I now have a pretty substantial holding but the 'problem' (nice one to have I hear you say) is that my average purchase price, according to my not very good records it has to be said, is 114p which means I have a 780% gain at today's price. If I sell, I use up both my own and my wife's CGT allowance for 15/16 and am still left with a pretty large CGT liability.That's been the case for some time now, so I just continue to hold and it just appears to keep on going up making the 'problem' larger each year.If only all my investments had performed like this one, I'd own a Premiership football club by now.
tejo
20 Mar 2015
Perfect place FCS has been in a perfect place with US Stocks/ Japanese/UK It has avoided adverse euro currency impacts of course. I have held the shares over many years and reduced holding when they geared up with the CULS. It is one of my three major holdings and can see no better alternative right now. Well managed and lucky - a good combination. Will only sell if it looks like interest rates really are going to rise but there is no political appetite for that as yet.
jsan22
20 Mar 2015
Re: £10 a pop something to celebrate Hi simms45 I've held this for a couple of years now, it is my main smaller companies fund. (I also hold SEC which is just about the other extreme, in terms of concentration ) One of the reasons I chose FCS as a core holding, was its past performance when the market fell (see 2011) But I agree, it is only a matter of time before the next lurch downwards on the markets generally. I've gone 60/40 stocks/others but I'm not selling out of any funds completely, I'm a buy-and-holder (although we are supposedly extinct)I read somewhere that the manager of the US portion of FCS had bailed out last year - however FCS seems to be zipping along OK this year.
simms45
19 Mar 2015
£10 a pop something to celebrate Its amazing that amongst all the high flying stocks F&C global smaller companies over the last 10 years has actually outshone most quietly rising almost 400%. Its a testament to the team who have delivered such a consistent return.I suspect some of the recent uplift has come from the dollar rise and general confidence in the market and I do wonder if some profit should be taken as i don't know about other people but feel the stock market is starting to overheat in places.
II Editor
20 Nov 2014
NEW ARTICLE: Five investment trusts treading a tightrope "Recent market gyrations have served as a vivid reminder that even well-managed companies and trusts can see their share prices fall if investors start to lose their nerve.The October plunge proved shortlived in most regions - with most markets ..."[link]
