JPMorgan Global Growth posts positive returns, underperforms benchmark

(Sharecast News) - JPMorgan Global Growth & Income reported positive absolute returns in the first half of its financial year on Thursday, although performance lagged its benchmark amid a momentum-driven equity market environment. The FTSE 250 investment trust delivered a net asset value total return of 9.1% for the six months ended 31 December, compared with a 13.3% return from the MSCI All Countries World Index.

Its share price total return was 7.1% over the period.

The underperformance was primarily attributed to stock selection, with the portfolio's bias towards higher-quality companies and underweight exposure to certain large technology names weighing on relative returns in a market dominated by short-term momentum.

Despite the near-term lag, the company highlighted strong long-term performance, with a five-year cumulative NAV total return of 90.6% versus 72.7% for the benchmark, and a 10-year return of 275.2% compared with 232.0%.

"Despite the underperformance in recent quarters, the company's long term track record remains resilient, and it has significantly outperformed the benchmark over the last five years," said chairman James Macpherson.

Global equity markets were described as volatile during the period, shaped by geopolitical tensions, shifting US trade policy and a surge in investment linked to artificial intelligence.

While easing trade tensions supported sentiment in the latter half of 2025, high expectations and rising capital expenditure raised concerns over a potential AI-driven market bubble.

Portfolio managers Helge Skibeli, James Cook and Sam Witherow said the strategy remained focused on long-term stock picking opportunities despite the recent drawdown.

"We continue to believe that global stock picking across our core investment universe offers attractive rewards for investors over the long-term, and we see many well-priced opportunities," they said in their statement, adding that exposure to themes such as AI and cloud computing should support returns over time.

During the period, asset allocation detracted 0.5 percentage points from performance, while stock selection reduced returns by 3.8 percentage points.

Currency effects and gearing had a marginal positive impact.

The trust said it continued its active capital management, repurchasing 19.1 million shares for £109.7m at an average discount of 3%, adding 0.6p to NAV per share.

Since the period ended, a further 12.9 million shares had been bought back, with the discount remaining around 2.6%.

On income, the company paid two interim dividends of 5.75p per share during the half year, totalling 11.5p, and said it intended to pay 23p per share for the full financial year, a 0.9% increase year-on-year.

Since the adoption of its enhanced dividend policy in 2016, total dividends had risen by more than 600%.

The board reiterated confidence in the portfolio's positioning despite current market conditions.

Macpherson said the company was "well placed to navigate the current challenging market environment, and to benefit as long term fundamentals resume their role as key market drivers.

"We are therefore confident that the company will continue to deliver attractive returns to shareholders over the long term."

Managers acknowledged that recent performance had been affected by momentum-led markets and underexposure to certain outperforming large-cap technology stocks, but said portfolio adjustments had been made to better balance short-term momentum with long-term valuation opportunities, while maintaining discipline in stock selection.

Looking ahead, the firm said it continued to see attractive opportunities across global equities, supported by structural growth themes and its access to JP Morgan Asset Management's global research platform, while remaining confident that current market dislocations would prove temporary and present opportunities for future outperformance.

At 0900 GMT, shares in JPMorgan Global Growth & Income were down 1.07% at 555p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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