The volatile market conditions of July accelerated at the start of August, with large moves downward led by the Japanese stock market, semiconductor-related companies and businesses more exposed to the economic cycle. In the early-month volatility the fund held up well, falling but by much less than the broader global market. Market levels recovered through the remainder of August, and the fund’s value also rose leading to a positive return which perhaps might not have been predicted in the first few trading days. Underneath the rally the sector performance figures show a pause in the long period of bullishness that the market has experienced over the last two years. Sectors that tend to experience steadier performance through the economic cycle outperformed, such as Health Care and Consumer Staples, whilst Energy, Information Technology and Communications Services companies fell. Some of the cause of the volatility has been put on weaker economic indicators being reported. There are some signs from portfolio companies of slowing revenue growth in specific areas, but the half year reporting season that finished in August generally showed that portfolio companies are making positive progress. Revenues have grown in the mid-single digits and profitability ahead of this. The latter has been a focus as the world normalises post-Covid, a period that saw increased operating costs and thus lower levels of profit at some companies. The resilient results, combined with the lowered risk appetite of the market, helped healthcare companies GSK, Quest Diagnostics and Medtronic to be amongst the top performers in market terms in the month. The market volatility likely benefitted sentiment toward exchange operators CME Group and Deutsche Boerse, which also featured toward the top of the contributors. Fallers were smaller in number but reflected the market trends, including industrial lubricants maker Fuchs and data, software and analytics company RELX.