Meet The Manager - Ollie Beckett

Ollie Beckett has been appointed Fund Manager of TR European Growth Trust PLC with effect from 1 July 2011, replacing Stephen Peak who was Fund Manager of the Company from its launch in September 1990. Ollie is an Associate Director for Henderson Horizon Pan European Smaller Companies. He first joined Henderson Global Investors (AMP Asset Management) in 1998 as an assistant portfolio manager for European Equities before becoming fund manager in 1999. In 2003, he took on the responsibility of managing Global Technology Equities before joining Anglo-Suisse Capital for one year. Ollie returned to Henderson Global Investors in 2005. He is also a member of the Institute of Investment Managers and Research.

Fund Manager's Commentary - December 2011

December began poorly as it became clear that we would not be getting the ‘bazooka solution’ that many anticipated from the European Union summit. Instead we got more political gesturing and the hope of moving toward fiscal integration and discipline. In a more significant move the European Central Bank (ECB) announced it would offer European banks unlimited loans at a 1% rate over a three-year period. It also loosened its collateral requirements for these loans taking away the most immediate risk – a bank funding squeeze – to the sector and market. Over the course of the month small caps lagged their larger peers.

Fund activity included the purchases of Sorin, Sulzer and Parrot. Sorin is a high-quality medical device manufacturer, which stands to benefit from a number of new product launches. Sulzer, which manufactures pumps, is also of good quality and we expect the two stocks to be core holdings for a considerable period. Parrot predominantly manufactures and sells hands-free systems for cars, and at current valuation levels looks an attractive investment. As a part of the ongoing fund restructuring we top-sliced Washtec, a producer of vehicle washing equipment, and Morpol a Norwegian firm involved in the processing and selling of salmon products, which are two of the portfolio’s less-liquid holdings.

The recent depreciation of the Euro has hindered returns as the portfolio is not currently hedged against currency movements. The market volatility forced the discount wider in December. We decided not to take action as buybacks would have been difficult in a market where volumes were low. We are constantly monitoring the spread and will potentially take action when market volumes increase.

Volatility and uncertainty look set to continue as 2012 will likely herald further political wrangling and inaction. The latest moves by the ECB should ease some of the immediate fears surrounding the financial sector and given the low valuations we would expect equities to make gains over the course of the year. Especially as consensus positioning is to underweight Europe.