F&C gears up further

The Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust is preparing to gear up further and to reduce its exposure to European equities. In the first half of this year, the trust raised gearing from 5.6% to 9.2%, and Jeremy Tigue, director and head of investment trusts at Foreign & Colonial, said he is willing to increase borrowings again if further opportunities occur. While greater gearing is a sign of Tigue's confidence in markets in general, this view does not apply to Europe. Tigue said the trust's biggest mistake over the past six months was over-optimism and exposure to Europe. Due to weak Eur...