Among the bigwigs of UK based hedge funds is Troy Asset Management’s Trojan Fund. The flagship hedge fund has assets under management of $3.9 billion in assets. A major portion of the hedge funds’ assets are allocated in US and UK equities, index related futures, physical gold and gold related indexes. The fund is up 4.2 percent YTD with a 0.6 percent return in November. Trojan fund has returned 168 percent since inception (May 2001).
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the fund’s top holdings and makes up 3.8 percent of the portfolio. The managers believe that like many of its peers Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) can compete with big tech players. Companies like Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) and Research In Motion Limited (TSE:RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM) are going through a very tough transition phase. On the other hand, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has not exactly been battered by the storm. Although the share price has not done wonders in the past two years, the company still holds serious ground with consumers. The revenue and free cash flow has grown in the past years and the company has potential to rise again.
Trojan Fund has large positions in physical gold, gold indexes and bullion securities. In equities major holdings are in British American Tobacco plc (LON:BATS) (NYSEAMEX:BTI), Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM), Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMEX:IMO) (EBR:IMO), Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE:BDX), Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO), Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) and Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE:RAI).
