Lazard World Trust Fund July 2018 Fact Sheet (5707A)

TIDMWTR

RNS Number : 5707A

Lazard World Trust Fund

12 September 2018

Lazard World Trust Fund (previously known as 'The World Trust Fund')

Fact Sheet - 31(st) July 2018

Société d'Investissement à Capital Fixe

Registered office: 49, avenue J.F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, R.C.S. Luxembourg No. B 37.154

Investment Objective

Lazard World Trust Fund (the 'Fund') seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in companies whose shares trade at a discount to their underlying Net Asset Value. The Fund measures its performance principally against the MSCI All Countries World (ex US) Index, although Lazard Asset Management LLC (the 'Manager') seeks to achieve the highest possible risk-adjusted returns. The allocation of the Fund's assets will normally diverge substantially from the Index.

The Fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of companies whose shares trade at a discount to the underlying net asset value. The Fund may also sell short stock indices, stocks, and shares of exchange-traded funds or closed-end funds, not exceeding 100% of the Fund's net assets.

As announced on April 27(th) the Fund has revised its Dividend Policy, effective for future fiscal years commencing 1(st) April 2018. Under the new Dividend Policy it is the Fund's intention to pay a total annual dividend equivalent to 6% of NAV, calculated at the start of each financial year, a total payable in equal quarterly instalments.

For fiscal year ending 31(st) March 2019 under the new Dividend Policy 5.835p will be paid in August, November, February and May, and result in a total dividend for the year of 23.34p.

Fund Data

 
 Net Asset Value    GBP3.927 
 Share Price         GBP3.83 
                   ---------- 
 Discount             -2.5% 
                   ---------- 
 Total Assets       GBP133.0m 
                   ---------- 
 Gearing               Nil 
                   ---------- 
 Yield                6.1% 
                   ---------- 
 

Source: State Street Bank

Kun Deng is a Managing Director of Lazard Asset Management, responsible for the firm's Discounted Assets strategies in global, international, and emerging markets.

He has been advising Lazard World Trust Fund since 1997. Kun has the CFA charter.

Lazard Asset Management is known for its global perspective on investing and years of experience with global, regional, and domestic portfolios. With more than 300 investment personnel worldwide, and approximately US$294 billion in assets under management, it has offices located throughout the world in Bahrain, Boston, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Milan, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, and Zurich.

Lazard Asset Management LLC was appointed as Manager of Lazard World Trust Fund at the inception of the Fund, 1 July 1991.

Top Holdings

 
 Top 10 holdings as 31st July, 2018    Weight %   Discount 
                                                      % 
 Altaba                                  7.2       -32.6 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Fidelity China Special Situations       6.4       -10.9% 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 JPMorgan Japan Smaller Companies        6.1       -11.1% 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 JPMorgan Japanese                       5.5       -8.2% 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 JPMorgan Emerging Markets               5.2       -12.9% 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Investor AB                             5.1       -28.3 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Naspers Ltd                             5.0       -32.2 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity         4.9       -20.2% 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Morgan Stanley China A Share            4.7       -17.1% 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Fondul Proprietatea                     4.6       -32.4 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 

Net Regional Exposure

 
 Region                                  % 
 Asia (ex-Japan)                        41.4 
                                       ----- 
 North America                          8.8 
                                       ----- 
 Japan                                  15.0 
                                       ----- 
 Europe (ex-UK)                         20.6 
                                       ----- 
 United Kingdom                         8.6 
                                       ----- 
 Latin America, Africa & Middle East    3.4 
                                       ----- 
 Other                                  2.4 
                                       ----- 
 

Source: Lazard Asset Management

Performance as of July 31st, 2018

 
                                                                                       Annualized 
                                                                                          since 
   Performance             MTD     YTD     1-Year     3-Year     5-Year     10-Year    inception** 
 Lazard World Trust 
  Fund Price * (GBP)     1.1%    2.1%     16.6%      17.4%      13.9%       8.2%          7.5% 
                        ------  ------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ----------  ------------- 
 Lazard World Trust 
  Fund NAV (GBP)         1.0%    -1.2%     3.5%      12.9%      11.3%       7.3%         10.0% 
                        ------  ------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ----------  ------------- 
 MSCI AC World Ex USA    3.1%    1.6%      6.5%      12.3%       8.7%       7.5%          8.8% 
                        ------  ------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ----------  ------------- 
 

Source: Lazard Asset Management/MSCI

* As at 1 November 2009 the currency in which the shares of the Fund are traded changed from US dollars (US$) to UK Sterling (GBP). Past performance data up to and including 31 October 2009 has been re-calculated using exchange rates provided by Bloomberg. Past performance data from 1 November 2009 is calculated using exchange rates provided by State Street Bank. The Fund's base currency for valuation and performance fee calculation purposes remains as US$.

** Inception date 1 July 1991

Manager's Comment

Global stocks rose in July, bringing benchmark year-to-date returns positive after the sharp sell-off at the beginning of the year. The United States performed well as strong corporate earnings and robust economic data off-set uncertainty around trade policy and increased tensions with Iran. Europe also advanced with the European Central Bank maintaining its easy monetary policy. The United Kingdom, weighed down by the ongoing struggle over Brexit plans, lagged during the month. After declines in the second quarter owing mainly to political and macroeconomic factors, emerging markets equities recovered modestly in July. The price of oil declined during the month while the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose to just below 3% and the US dollar index was down slightly. Helping drive Fund returns higher were investments in Macau Property Opportunities Fund (+33.7%), Investor AB (+7.7%) and Jardine Strategic (+8.7%) while detracting from Fund returns were investments in Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund (-4.3%) and Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust (-4.6%).

The Lazard World Trust Fund price, as traded on the London Stock Exchange, is currently at a discount of -2.5% to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Fund's underlying investments were priced at an average discount of -28.8% to their net asset value. Adding the two discounts together, the Fund is currently trading at an effective discount of -30.6%, which implies that every pound invested in the Fund buys GBP1.40 worth of assets.

Long Portfolio Composition

 
 Closed-Ended Investment Companies    25.2% 
 Investment Trusts                    48.9% 
                                     ------ 
 Corporate Equities                   26.1% 
                                     ------ 
 

Source: Lazard Asset Management

Portfolio Exposure

 
 Long     100.2 % 
 Short    - 0.0% 
         -------- 
 

Source: Lazard Asset Management

Lazard World Trust Fund Annual NAV Performance (%)

 
                  2017   2016    2015   2014    2013    2012     2011    2010    2009     2008     2007    2006   2005    2004 
 Lazard World 
  Trust Fund 
  (Fully-Diluted 
  NAV) (GBP)*     22.80  17.75   6.64   10.08   16.67   14.15   -12.18   20.74   31.95   -47.021   5.79    5.39   43.91   17.08 
                  -----  -----  -----  ------  ------  ------  -------  ------  ------  --------  ------  -----  ------  ------ 
 MSCI AC 
  World Ex 
  USA Index       16.20  24.64   -0.2   2.11    13.15   11.7    -13.07   14.65   25.94   -24.58    14.69   11.1   30.42   12.74 
                  -----  -----  -----  ------  ------  ------  -------  ------  ------  --------  ------  -----  ------  ------ 
 

Source: Lazard Asset Management/FactSet

* The pre-2015 values relate to the fully Diluted NAV. The final subscription date for the exercise of warrants was 31 March 2014 and no additional warrant offers have been made since that date.

Company Information as at July 31st 2018

 
 46,635,763 Ordinary shares in issue (including 12,757,277 
  Treasury shares) = Luxembourg denominator 
 33,878,493 Ordinary shares (excluding 12,757,277 Treasury 
  shares) = FCA denominator 
 Ticker:            WTR 
                   ----------------------------------------- 
 ISIN:              LU0483266259 
                   ----------------------------------------- 
 
   Benchmark:         MSCI All Countries World Index 
                      ex USA 
                   ----------------------------------------- 
 

Contact Details

 
 Fund Manager:        Lazard Asset Management LLC 
                       30 Rockefeller Plaza 
                       New York 
                       NY 10112 
                       USA 
                       Telephone: [phone] 
 Company Secretary:   Link Company Matters 
                       Telephone: [phone] 
                     ----------------------------------- 
 Registered Office:   Société d'Investissement 
                       à Capital Fixe 
                       49, avenue J.F. Kennedy, L-1855 
                       Luxembourg 
                       Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, R.C.S. 
                       Luxembourg No. B 37.154 
                     ----------------------------------- 
 Directors:           Philip McLoughlin (Chairman) 
                       Duncan Budge 
                       James Cave 
                       Howard Myles 
                       Tony Morrongiello 
                     ----------------------------------- 
 Company Broker:      Cenkos Securities plc 
                       Contact: Andrew Worne 
                       Telephone: [phone] 
                     ----------------------------------- 
 

Further copies of the Factsheet are available at:

www.lazardworldtrustfund.com

NMPI Status

The Company currently conducts its affairs so that its securities can be recommended by IFAs to ordinary retail investors in accordance with the FCA's rules in relation to non-mainstream investment products and intends to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The securities are excluded from the FCA's restrictions which apply to non-mainstream investment products because they are shares in an investment trust.

Important Information

This is a financial promotion and is not intended to be investment advice.

Securities identified in this document are not necessarily held by Lazard Asset Management for all client portfolios, and should not be considered as a recommendation or solicitation to purchase, sell or hold these securities. It should also not be assumed that any investment in these securities was, or will be, profitable.

Information and opinions contained within this document are derived from sources believed by Lazard to be reliable. Lazard makes no representation as to their accuracy or completeness. All opinions are as at the date of this document and are subject to change without notice.

Lazard World Trust Fund is an investment company incorporated in Luxembourg, whose shares are listed and traded on the London Stock Exchange.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

Investors are reminded that although the shares of the Fund are listed in UK Sterling (GBP), the base currency of the Fund is US dollars. Therefore, in addition to the fluctuations in the rate of exchange between the currency in which shares are denominated (US$) and the base currencies of the underlying investments that may affect the value of your investment both positively and negatively, changes in rates of exchange between the Fund's base currency and the currency in which it is listed (GBP) may also have the effect of causing the value of your investment to fluctuate.

Certain information included herein is derived by Lazard in part from an MSCI index or indices (the "Index Data"). However, MSCI has not reviewed this product or report, and does not endorse or express any opinion regarding this product or report or any analysis or other information contained herein or the author or source of any such information or analysis. MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any Index Data or data derived therefrom. The MSCI Index Data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indices or any securities or financial products.

There is no assurance that Lazard World Trust Fund's objectives or performance targets will be achieved.

This financial promotion is issued and approved by:

Lazard Asset Management Limited, 50 Stratton Street, London W1J 8LL

Lazard Asset Management Limited is incorporated in England and Wales with registered number 525667. It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

Listing Category: Premium - Equity Closed-ended Investment Fund

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

END

DOCFKBDPKBKDFCD

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 12, 2018 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT)