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Global Opportunities Trust PLC on Thursday reported a rise in net asset value during the first half of 2025, outperforming a comparative index. The Edinburgh-based investment trust said net asset value per share was 378.9p as of June 30, up 1.3% from 374.0p at December 31. The NAV total return was positive 4.0%, surpassing the FTSE All-World Index which delivered what Chair Cahal Dowds described as ‘a fairly anaemic’ positive 1.0%. Dowds, however, reiterated that the trust ‘has no stated benchmark against which it seeks to outperform’. ‘In many ways it has been a tumultuous period, with the stance of the new US administration appearing to change on a regular basis,’ Dowds noted. ‘This has been most noticeable on trade tariffs...Markets have remained relatively sanguine through the period, given the potential for severe economic distress.’ Pretax net return for the six-month period totalled £4.5 million, rising 50% from £3.0 million the year before. The trust recorded £5.7 million in gains on investments at fair value compared with £2.3 million in gains a year earlier. Foreign exchange losses on capital items offset this growth slightly, however, increasing to £2.5 million from £499,000. Looking ahead, Dowds continued: ‘The key point for markets is that it takes time for economic impacts to work their way through the system...To the extent that it is negative we have seen the likely response. Either the messenger will be blamed, or the Federal Reserve will serve as the scapegoat. In the meantime, there have been no meaningful attempts to address the debt overhang facing the world‘s developed economies. As before, this leaves us with a continued risk averse approach.’ Shares in Global Opportunities Trust were down marginally at 324.94 pence in London on Thursday morning. The stock remains up 7.6% over the past year. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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