FREE

A way to diversify income

”‹The sharp falls in sterling over the past few months have flattered the performance of many funds investing overseas, including Henderson International Income Trust (HINT), but have compounded problems for some UK equity income trusts. HINT’s manager warns that the threat of dividend cuts looms large for UK-focused trusts and thinks that now, more than ever, the yield on HINT’s overseas equity portfolio should look very attractive to UK-based investors. HINT has just raised its quarterly dividend to 1.2p, up 4.3% on the previous quarterly dividend. HINT’s manager says that, five years after HINT’s launch, the arguments in favour of the fund are as strong as ever. Threats to dividends in the oil, mining and financial sectors run the risk of severely denting the amount of income available to investors in the UK market. What compounds the problem is that the UK market is unnaturally skewed towards these sectors. He says that investing internationally reduces risk and opens up new opportunities.