The Seed Absolute Return Fund has been invested into the Investec Global Franchise Fund for most of its existence, and it is now a material part of the Fund (10% allocation).

Investec Global Franchise invests into a concentrated portfolio of high quality global companies - i.e. companies that have shown the ability to consistently grow shareholder wealth at rates superior to the market. The fund will typically hold no more than 40 counters at any point, reflecting the manager's high conviction in each holding.

As a result of the mandate, the fund invests into a diverse basket of defensive shares that trade at fair multiples and are highly cash generative. Top holdings currently include Nestle, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Anheuser-busch Inbev, Microsoft, and Philip Morris.

The fund has been a top performer since launch, but relative returns have been more muted recently. We expect that it will lag in strong equity markets, but outperform strongly in down markets. As the Seed Absolute Return Fund has a positive return mindset we are willing to take relative underperformance in up months in order to better preserve capital when markets fall.

The Seed Absolute Return Fund has delivered CPI + 4% per annum since launch.