This fund is used within our Pentatonic portfolios and represents between 3-4% of the spread within them.
The Fund invests at least two thirds (but typically significantly more) in the shares of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. These companies are incorporated/domiciled in the UK or which have significant business operations in the UK.
Originally Rensburg UK Equity Income Trust from 1987, it changed to FTF Franklin UK Equity Income Fund in 2011. The fund has total net assets £863 million with a 5-year annualised return of 4.24%.
Within the top 10 holdings you will see exposure to the following well-known companies:
Shell PLC – representing 5% of the fund – is a British publicly traded Multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London.
Shell was formed in 1907 through the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the Netherlands and The “Shell” Transport and Trading Company of the UK. It is now one of the oil and gas “supermajors” and by revenue and profits is one of the largest companies in the world, ranking within the top 10 of the Fortune global 500 since 2000.
Shell is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration, production, refining, transport, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation, and trading. Shell has operations in over 99 countries, produces around 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has around 44,000 service stations worldwide.
On 8 March, Shell announced that it would stop buying Russian oil and gas and close its service stations in the country.
Unilever PLC – representing 4.69% of the fund – is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in London.
Unilever was founded in 1929, by the merger of the British soap maker Lever Brothers and the Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie. Through many acquisitions it has diversified from being a maker of products made of oils and fats to what it is now.
Unilever is organised into three main divisions: Foods and Refreshments; Home Care; and Beauty & Personal Care. It is the largest producer of soap in the world, and its products are available in around 190 countries. In the 2010s, under the leadership of Paul Polman, the company gradually shifted its focus towards health and beauty brands and away from food brands showing slow growth.
Unilever announced that in order to help tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic, it would contribute over €100m through donations of soap, hand sanitiser, bleach and food
Astrazeneca PLC – representing 4.39% of the fund – has its headquarters in Cambridge and is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.
AstraZeneca develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceutical and biotechnology products to treat disorders within areas such as oncology, cardiovascular, respiratory, and inflammation.
The company was founded in 1999 through the merger of the Swedish Astra AB and the British Zeneca Group. Since the merger it has been among the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and has made numerous corporate acquisitions.
It has been involved in developing the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.