November was marked by intra-month volatility in global stock markets, with both the US and UK stock markets ultimately posting a small positive return. US technology stocks briefly sold off on AI concerns, but then rebounded in the second half of the month. In the UK, sentiment was muted for most of the month - but domestic shares saw some relief following the autumn statement on 26th November.
Evenlode Income fell -3.0% compared to a fall of -0.7% for the IA UK All Companies Sector and a rise of +0.4% for the FTSE All-Share. The fund’s relative performance was held back by the continued valuation compression of a wide range of quality companies. In terms of fundamentals, third quarter trading updates showed a continuation of the first half’s steady growth, with average organic revenue growth of more than +5% for portfolio holdings.
During November, the most negative contributors to return were RELX, Auto Trader and Smith and Nephew. RELX’s share price decreased on no company-specific news. Auto Trader delivered solid interim results and reiterated its full-year outlook, but the shares weakened – mainly due to market concerns about potential AI-related disruption. We believe Auto Trader is well positioned in this regard, with proprietary data, strong domain expertise and deep customer relationships that put the company in a strong position to leverage AI and enhance its product offering. We added to the position. Smith & Nephew’s shares have performed strongly in 2025, but weakened in November following a third-quarter trading update that was slightly below consensus expectations - though the company still reported continued revenue and profit growth and reaffirmed full year guidance. The most positive contributors to performance were Games Workshop, AstraZeneca and CME Group. Games Workshop issued a trading update highlighting double digit core revenue growth in the first half of its financial year. AstraZeneca delivered strong third quarter results, reporting double- digit revenue growth and continued progress across its late-stage pipeline. CME Group reported solid October volumes, up +8% year-on-year, with broad-based strength across metals, equities, energy and agriculture products.
The main portfolio change was the completion of the fund’s exit from a small position in Swiss-listed SGS. We decided to recycle the capital into UK-listed holdings where quality, growth and valuations look compelling – including SGS’s testing and inspection peer Intertek.
The portfolio is a diversified list of market-leading quality businesses, almost all UK-listed. They have resilient long-term growth prospects, low levels of debt and total leverage, and are consistent cash generators – the free cash flow yield of the portfolio is currently 5.7% and forecast to be 6.0% next year. These qualities have been of little interest to Mr Market over recent months, but in an investment environment that looks increasingly frothy in many places, we think this is creating a great opportunity.
November was marked by intra-month volatility in global stock markets, with both the US and UK stock markets ultimately posting a small positive return. US technology stocks briefly sold off on AI concerns, but then rebounded in the second half of the month. In the UK, sentiment was muted for most of the month - but domestic shares saw some relief following the autumn statement on 26th November.
Evenlode Income fell -3.0% compared to a fall of -0.7% for the IA UK All Companies Sector and a rise of +0.4% for the FTSE All-Share. The fund’s relative performance was held back by the continued valuation compression of a wide range of quality companies. In terms of fundamentals, third quarter trading updates showed a continuation of the first half’s steady growth, with average organic revenue growth of more than +5% for portfolio holdings.
During November, the most negative contributors to return were RELX, Auto Trader and Smith and Nephew. RELX’s share price decreased on no company-specific news. Auto Trader delivered solid interim results and reiterated its full-year outlook, but the shares weakened – mainly due to market concerns about potential AI-related disruption. We believe Auto Trader is well positioned in this regard, with proprietary data, strong domain expertise and deep customer relationships that put the company in a strong position to leverage AI and enhance its product offering. We added to the position. Smith & Nephew’s shares have performed strongly in 2025, but weakened in November following a third-quarter trading update that was slightly below consensus expectations - though the company still reported continued revenue and profit growth and reaffirmed full year guidance. The most positive contributors to performance were Games Workshop, AstraZeneca and CME Group. Games Workshop issued a trading update highlighting double digit core revenue growth in the first half of its financial year. AstraZeneca delivered strong third quarter results, reporting double- digit revenue growth and continued progress across its late-stage pipeline. CME Group reported solid October volumes, up +8% year-on-year, with broad-based strength across metals, equities, energy and agriculture products.
The main portfolio change was the completion of the fund’s exit from a small position in Swiss-listed SGS. We decided to recycle the capital into UK-listed holdings where quality, growth and valuations look compelling – including SGS’s testing and inspection peer Intertek.
The portfolio is a diversified list of market-leading quality businesses, almost all UK-listed. They have resilient long-term growth prospects, low levels of debt and total leverage, and are consistent cash generators – the free cash flow yield of the portfolio is currently 5.7% and forecast to be 6.0% next year. These qualities have been of little interest to Mr Market over recent months, but in an investment environment that looks increasingly frothy in many places, we think this is creating a great opportunity.