When I wrote to shareholders a year ago for the 2020 annual report, we were just beginning a journey into the unknown resulting from the burgeoning global pandemic. We already knew then that the virus itself, and the measures to control it, were likely to be a threat to financial stability and to have a huge impact on economic activity. It also looked likely that there would be significant impact on companies in many industries. That has indeed been the way the year has played out and we now find ourselves reporting on a year where superlatives seem trite and do no justice to what we have all experienced. In addition to the economic impact, in human terms, the cost to physical and mental wellbeing across society has also been dramatic.
Follow Up Market Note – 20210219 Follow Up Market Note_Changes to ICB SA Sector Indices Updated - SENS moneyweb.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from moneyweb.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Performance The company s Net Asset Value (NAV) per ordinary share rose by 6.2% on a net dividends reinvested basis with debt at fair value, our key performance measure. This was ahead of the composite benchmark index (70% FTSE World Ex-UK and 30% FTSE All-Share Index) which rose by 5.3% on the total return basis over the period. 2020 has of course been a year of extremes, not least for humanity s collective experience of the global effects of a pandemic, the like of which has not been seen in living memory. This inevitably cast the shadow of economic upheaval and market volatility across the majority of the year.
CHAIRMAN S STATEMENT I hope that you are all keeping safe and healthy during these uncertain times. When I published my annual statement in June, we were emerging from the severe, unprecedented restrictions imposed in March as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and by that time equity markets had rebounded from their lows in March and April. Over the course of the first half of the Company s financial year, markets have stabilised and continued to rise. Performance I am very pleased to report that the Company recorded a total return on net assets of +49.2% in the six months to 30th September 2020, outperforming by some margin the Company s benchmark index, the MSCI Europe (ex UK) small cap net total return index in sterling terms, which returned +34.9% over the same period. This outperformance was almost entirely a result of positive stock selection, which is a credit to our Investment Managers, whose strategy of focusing on Technology, Wellness an