Marlborough Bond Income Fund Interim Report For the six month period ended 30th November 2016 (Unaudited) MARLBOROUGH BOND INCOME FUND Authorised Fund Manager and Registrar Marlborough Fund Managers Ltd Marlborough House 59 Chorley New Road Bolton BL1 4QP Investor Support: (0808) 145 2500 (FREEPHONE) Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Trustee HSBC Bank plc 8 Canada Square London E14 5HQ Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Auditor Barlow Andrews LLP Carlyle House 78 Chorley New Road Bolton BL1 4BY Directors of Marlborough Fund Managers Ltd Andrew Staley Chairman Nicholas F J Cooling Deputy Chairman Allan Hamer Joint Managing Director Wayne D Green Joint Managing Director Dom M Clarke Finance Director Geoffrey Hitchin Investment Director Keith Ounsworth Director – Sales John R Heap Director – Strategic Development B John Leyland Director Helen Derbyshire Director – Compliance & Risk MARLBOROUGH BOND INCOME FUND CONTENTS PAGE AUTHORISED INVESTMENT ADVISER’S REPORT 1 AUTHORISED STATUS AND GENERAL INFORMATION 3 DIRECTORS STATEMENT 4 FUND INFORMATION Price and distribution record 5 Number of units in issue/Net asset value per unit 5 Ongoing charges 5 Synthetic risk and reward indicator 6 Portfolio statement 7 Portfolio split by investment grade 10 Portfolio transactions 10 INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Statement of total return 11 Statement of change in net assets attributable to unitholders 11 Balance sheet 12 Notes to the interim financial statements 12 MARLBOROUGH BOND INCOME FUND AUTHORISED INVESTMENT ADVISER’S REPORT For the six month period ended 30 November 2016 Percentage change and sector position to 30 November 2016 Six months 1 year 3 years 5 years Since launch * Marlborough Bond Income Fund 3.12% 6.16% 16.62% 38.37% 133.71% Quartile Ranking ** 3 3 3 2 2 * 9 September 1998 ** Based on ranking within The Investment Association’s £ Corporate Bond sector External Source of Economic Data: Morningstar (Class P Inc - bid to bid, net income reinvested) The unit offer price of the class A units has hardly changed during the period under review, with an increase from 53.78p to 53.81p. There was, however, also income paid to unitholders relating to the period which amounted to 0.849381ppu net of tax. The Bank of England base rate was reduced from 0.5% to 0.25% as one of the consequences of the vote for Brexit. The measures taken by the Bank of England together with the fall in sterling have kept the economy growing at a reasonable rate. However, uncertainties remain which are likely to keep interest rates low to the benefit of bond prices. International factors are also likely to have an effect as 2017 looks like being the year when politics dominates the investment agenda more than in any year I can remember. The major factors here apart from the continuing uncertainty around Brexit are the forthcoming presidency of Donald Trump with its own uncertainties and various elections in Europe which could have a very destabilising effect. The result of all this is that there are a lot of unknowns to be borne in mind when considering investment strategy and it is hard to avoid the conclusion that a balanced approach is needed. For the main global economies the main uncertainty seems to lie with the US where the stock markets have so far regarded the Trump Presidency as likely to lead to higher growth rates and higher inflation because of likely policies of tax cuts and infrastructure spending. Because of the time that will be taken for the expected changes to have effect and maybe also their relativity limited nature it is not at all clear whether the stock market move can be justified especially if the interest rate increases presently expected come into effect. The expected moves have also led to a higher US dollar and the combination of this and the increased cost of debts means that these factors could stifle the economy even before the policy benefits start to come. In the circumstances it is possible that bond yields may fall back later in the year rather than rising, in the UK as well as well as in the US. Europe and the UK are meanwhile continuing with very low interest rates and other quantitative easing policies which will continue to support bond prices as long as US growth remains reasonably restrained. So far as bond investments are concerned the expectation of low interest rates particularly applies for the investment grade bonds in which this Fund is mainly invested. The Fund also continues to hold some lower grade bonds where it is considered that any risk is already fully discounted in the price. We consider a balanced approach to be appropriate as a way of limiting risk and volatility. Geoff Hitchin 12 January 2017 1 MARLBOROUGH BOND INCOME FUND AUTHORISED INVESTMENT ADVISER’S REPORT (CONTINUED) Distributions (pence per unit) Year 2017 Year 2016 Year 2015 Year 2014 Class A Net income paid 31 January 0.420593 0.440292 0.460127 0.480482 Net income paid 30 April 0.465951 0.440791 0.454889 Net income paid 31 July 0.425286 0.464421 0.433086 Net income paid 31 October 0.428788 0.435494 0.469619 Class B Net income paid 31 January 0.458000 0.482000 0.506400 0.520400 Net income paid 30 April 0.512000 0.488400 0.494800 Net income paid 31 July 0.460400 0.511600 0.474400 Net income paid 31 October 0.463600 0.483600 0.512000 Class P Net income paid 31 January 0.462756 0.490743 0.516204 0.546643 Net income paid 30 April 0.515158 0.494589 0.509956 Net income paid 31 July 0.471018 0.521562 0.485025 Net income paid 31 October 0.474984 0.494534 0.524818 Portfolio Changes For the six month period ended 30 November 2016 Purchases Cost (£) Sales Proceeds (£) Thames Water Utilities 7.241% 09.04.58 142,610 William Hill 4.25% 05.06.20 127,063 Bayer 3.75% 01.07.74 126,983 Tullet Prebon 7.04% 06.07.16 120,000 William Hill 4.875% 07.09.23 125,563 International Personal Fin 6.125% 08.05.20 105,188 Lend Lease Europe Finance 6.125% 12.10.21 123,120 QBE Capital Funding 6.115% 24.05.42 96,982 Places for People Treasury 2.875% 17.08.26 121,044 Beazley Group 7.25% FRN 17.10.26 80,000 Direct Line Insurance Group FRN 27.04.42 120,850 PostNL 7.5% 14.08.18 78,062 Sky 4% 26.11.29 118,100 Santander UK 5.875% 14.08.31 117,130 RSA Insurance Group 9.375% 20.05.39 116,850 CRH Finance (UK) 4.125% 02.12.29 112,200 Stagecoach Group 4% 29.09.25 107,850 Asciano Finance 5% 19.09.23 105,900 Engie 4.625% Perp 103,000 Investec 4.5% 05.05.22 102,650 Yorkshire Water Services Fin 6% 24.04.25 101,980 Hiscox FRN 24.11.45 100,100 WPP Finance 2.875% 14.09.46 99,550 CS Group Funding Guernsey 2.75% 08.08.25 99,464 Henkel 0.875% 13.09.22 99,360 International Personal Fin 5.75% 07.04.21 96,690 Other purchases 100,829 Other sales 13,454 Total purchases for the period 2,341,823 Total sales for the period 620,749 2 MARLBOROUGH BOND INCOME FUND AUTHORISED STATUS AND GENERAL INFORMATION Authorised Status The Fund is an authorised unit trust scheme within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and is a UCITS scheme under the Collective Investment Schemes Sourcebook (COLL) as issued by the Financial Conduct Authority. Nature and Objectives of the Fund The investment objective of the Fund is to provide a high level of income with the potential for capital growth. It is intended that this objective will be achieved by investing in UK corporate bonds and preference shares, UK and other government securities, Eurobonds and other fixed and variable rate securities including, where appropriate and permitted by COLL, convertible securities. The Fund may, in addition to its other investment powers, use cash and near cash (which includes money market instruments and deposits) and exchange traded and over the counter derivatives and forward currency contracts for hedging and investment purposes. Using these investment powers for investment purposes means, in particular, maintaining positions in these investments for the long term rather than just for tactical short-term purposes. The Fund may also invest in other transferable securities and units/shares in collective investment schemes. Furthermore use may be made of stock lending and borrowing and other investment techniques permitted in COLL. The use of these investment powers is also limited to prevent the global exposure exceeding the total net value of the Fund's portfolio. A risk management process is in place to monitor the exposure. The Fund's investment powers in relation to derivatives mean that for regulatory purposes it will be regarded as a high volatility fund. However, the use of derivative techniques will have the overall intention of reducing the volatility of returns, reflecting the investment policy for the Fund generally. The Fund has been structured to concentrate on the generation of income as a higher priority than on capital growth. This may accordingly constrain capital growth. Rights and Terms attaching to each Unit Class Each unit of each class represents a proportional entitlement to the assets of the Fund. The allocation of income and taxation and the rights of each unit in the event the Fund is wound up are on the same proportional basis.