The International Growth Fund ended the month down 0.2%, broadly in-line with the benchmark index which was down 0.3%.

Signature Bank (+22.5%) continued its strong performance from recent months, driven by broad strength in regional banks coupled with another good earnings result, with record deposit growth. The stock is now up 117% from November lows.
Tencent (+20.8%) and Alibaba (+9.1%) both benefited from the news that the US government decided against restricting investments in the Chinese tech giants as part of the wider banning of investment in Chinese military-linked companies. In addition, Tencent has seen massive demand from mainland Chinese retail and institutional funds in recent months.

Greggs (+16%) has performed well since we first bought it in December. A positive Q4 trading update was ahead of expectations and highlighted continued momentum throughout the quarter as restrictions eased and as customers increasingly adopt the new digital and delivery offerings.

Facebook (-5%) fell in January despite releasing strong financial results. The company’s advertising revenue grew 31% in the fourth quarter, accelerating from the 22% growth delivered last quarter. The company called out strong advertising growth driven by eCommerce, as well as the shift in consumer demand towards products and away from services (eg. travel and entertainment) as a result of the pandemic. User engagement continues to remain high and Facebook’s Daily Average Users climbed 11% to over 1.8 billion. Facebook remains one of our largest holdings.

The other detractors this quarter were largely concentrated in companies impacted by further COVID lockdowns and vaccine delays, including companies exposed to travel (Hilton, Hexcel, Heico, and MasterCard) and physical retail (Adidas, Essilor, and StoneCo).