This third-party results analysis provided by Kepler Partners focuses on the recently published interim results, for the six months to 31 March 2021.

Key takeaways:

• For that period HEFT reported a NAV total return of 13.6%, outperforming the 11.9% return of its benchmark, the FTSE World Europe ex UK Index.
• The managers continue to actively position the trust around the varying phases of the pandemic recovery. The most recent change has been a substantial increase in its exposure to consumer discretionary stocks, in preparation for an expected recovery in consumer spending resulting from Europe’s vaccine rollout and increased consumer savings.
• HEFT trades on an 8.9% discount as of 25 May 2021, despite generating strong long-term returns. HEFT has generated a five-year NAV total return of 90.5% to the same date, beating the 81.9% of its FTSE World Europe ex UK benchmark.

Read the full analysis on the Kepler Research website

Net asset value (NAV) – The total value of a fund’s assets less its liabilities.

Total return/Absolute return – The total return of a portfolio, as opposed to its relative return against a benchmark, is measured as a gain or loss, and stated as a percentage of a portfolio’s total value.

Discretionary stocks – A classification for goods and services that are considered non-essential by consumers, such as entertainment, leisure activities, and automobiles.

Discrete year performance % change (updated quarterly)

31/03/2020 to 31/03/2021

29/03/2019 to 31/03/2020

30/03/2018 to 29/03/2019

31/03/2017 to 30/03/2018

31/03/2016 to 31/03/2017

Share Price

50.3

-9.8

-9.0

-0.6

40.1

NAV

42.3

-5.6

0.3

2.6

27.6

All performance, cumulative growth and annual growth data is sourced from Morningstar