Mid Wynd International (MWY ) has reported a bruising half year to the end of June after 80% of the global growth investment trust’s themes dented net asset value (NAV).

In total, with a dividend included, NAV fell 7.5% in sterling terms, compared with a 4.2% fall for the MSCI AC World Index. The shares fell 9.5%.

Asia Pacific excluding Japan was the only positive region contributing 0.4% of the underlying 7.5% return. By contrast, Japan was the biggest detractor, knocking 2.5% off assets as the yen tumbled against the pound.

The shining light in the ‘disappointing’ set of results was the healthcare costs theme, which contributed 3% to investment returns, as US health insurance companies benefited from rising employment and policy sales, and fewer medicals claims.

Scientific equipment was positive on the whole, contributing 0.1% chiefly because US group Thermo Fisher produced strong returns.

The Artemis-managed trust did benefit from a 72% jump in earnings, comprised mostly of dividends. To that end, the 1%-yielder’s board is proposing a final dividend of 3.7p per share and a special dividend of 3p, in keeping with investment trust status which requires 85% of earnings to be distributed in the form of dividends.

The total dividend, including the special payout for the six-month period of 10.2p per share, represents an increase of 59.4% over a year ago.

The managers of the £468m global equity trust Simon Edelsten (pictured below) and Alex Illingworth anticipate a ‘tough’ year ahead as fuel prices remain high and interest rates rise to contain inflation, testing business models.

They have taken the opportunity to buy companies at ‘attractive valuations’, adding stocks that sell ‘essential products’ and have proven resilient in recent months, such as Nestle, the largest position, Adobe and IBM, according to Morningstar.

‘It would not surprise us if investing continues to be challenging as markets see more of the effects of stubborn inflation, but we believe companies chosen for their business quality will continue to cope with these conditions,’ they said.

The automation sector, which includes Cognex, KION Group and Hoya, was the worst performer, detracting 4.3%. The larges automation market is Covid-riddled China which hurt companies and Japanese holdings underperformed in sterling terms as the yen materially declined.

Other detractors included digital banking, which lost 1.7%, as financials performed badly as concerns of a recession grew, and sustainable consumer, which detracted 1.3%, which was hit by pressures on consumer spending.

Further falls in digital banking were avoided by the sale of several investments in financial technology such as Paypal, while within the sustainable consumer theme, Louis Vuitton’s high-end offering helped it to buck the trend seen in other consumer businesses.

According to the September factsheet, the automation and sustainable consumer themes are the trust’s largest exposure at 16.9% apiece. Healthcare remains the largest sector exposure at 23.2%, followed by tech, which has a 16.6% weighting.

Other top positions incclude Thermo Fisher Scientific and health insurance provider Elevance Health, formerly known as Anthem, which constitute 9% of total assets.

In 2022, total returns have fallen 13.7%, compared to the benchmark’s 4.4%, and the shares, 18.5% to trade at a 2.1% discount to NAV. Over 10 years, the shares have generated a total return of 227% beating the MSCI index’ 204% gain.