The Fund rose by 3.22% during July, ahead of its performance comparator of cash (as measured by the Bank of England’s Sterling Overnight Index Average (“SONIA”)) + 5% which rose by 0.48%.

Strong expectations of central banks raising interest rates further to quell inflation helped calm equity markets in July. In the US the Fed met those expectations, raising rates by 0.75% at its meeting, with the comments accompanying the rate decision also helping to give markets confidence that they may be more accommodating in the future. In the UK, the second half of the month saw a strong performance from the oil companies on the back of recent oil and gas price rises which also helped lift the FTSE 100 index, where they form a major proportion of the constituent companies. The index rose 3.55% over the month on a capital basis, only just ahead of the Fund.

(Source of all figures: FE Analytics)

Three strategies had observation points in July. The first required the FTSE 100 index to be at or above its starting level on the observation date to mature. The index was down 4.17% at that point, so the strategy moves on to its next anniversary, the first of a further five opportunities to mature in the future with the total potential gain rising by 8.31% each year.