Three life sciences firms helped Baillie Gifford's Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust outperform its benchmark.
Preliminary results for the year to 31 October 2019 show the Company's net asset value increased by 7.4% compared with the S&P Global Small Cap Index at 7.2%.
The trust said shares in US cancer treatment device maker Novocure, antibody developer Seattle Genetics, and and Belgian biotech Galapagos were its standout performers.
Chairman Henry Strutt said the fund's managers continue with their growth style policy of picking companies with smaller market capitalisation and greater potential. The fund's focus on earnings outwith the UK meant it benefited from Sterling's weakness.
Strutt said: "For some investors, uncertainty regarding Brexit has resulted in risk aversion and a desire to withdraw exposure to equities. The reality for this portfolio is that should sterling weaken in aggregate against other currencies, then investor returns are likely to increase as the majority of assets within the portfolio are non-sterling denominated. Therefore, the converse holds true."
The fund did not pay a dividend in line with its goal of generating capital growth rather than income, while charges were reduced to 0.75% from 0.81%.
