Stripping the emotion out of picking stocks and allocating capital would appear to be a sensible thing to do — getting caught up in investment fads has left many people later regretting their decision to follow the crowd — so perhaps Bruce Stout, who runs the Murray International Trust, is right to stick to the philosophy that has served him well, rather than rapidly changing track as a result of a poor 2018.
Yesterday Mr Stout, 60, pointed out that global equities had suffered their worst year in a decade and he bemoaned the destructive impact of protectionist policies and trade hostilities. That left the £1.6 billion trust booking a 7.5 per cent fall in net asset value total return for 2018, compared with a