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Terry Smith defends flagship fund returns after fourth year of underperformance

Asset Management Correspondent

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Terry Smith, the veteran fund manager, has defended performance of his flagship £22.5bn fund after it failed to beat its benchmark for the fourth consecutive year in 2024.

According to a letter to investors on 9 January, Fundsmith Equity returned 8.9% in 2024, compared to 20.8% delivered by the MSCI World Index. The fund has failed to record an above-benchmark return since 2020.

Smith, one of the UK’s best-selling stockpickers, has struggled to beat the MSCI World Index since 2020

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iFD3Kf4yUsDRx/DDhk/S0px4Q2q2Y26IaQvx+1Tx14X5RUD7F4mcDdYNV84EOIC4GFncBdao14sL/ea9Z1d1o+chC/NxPjbHeK1FkMLgtZn9ne22bLYYx+ly7z1ihCnqaGcXVWnpYMxneNJa2ULh2pqioBUHT+lGlrkg+SRJ51hLE0LdypOLrW5+b8jU21WydH9hN0YdqjeZngkFZX+snKsO50BVFv/c8LTS9tVo8gSTWcHR/70Zu7BqonhYfq6rHkak+aUypRA3Rtxcc2vFWrRGzjR/1k8ZzCwsnaj2AdxYp4PtPABN9tph3ZLJo0fNHmoWJGHuOga+MRdAdO7oTLsqIrF2q6BMp+lrOXLdojFQt/oKWb1SSElry0uNoGGJ5z1NUzJosi/cOn7+o7c3J2dl6fs4YpByFpRCFnkfe0dtcqoRSauMYKEuo1bnPb+CZ210NCKhPp37XsLcG7h2OJtxEaBtlgo6+OdidCqZ4yrhLI6pzh+mvuoSVxn3R/BBW0LUAKZC7LqlsD1bat11hGIIuzT5eefpINzOO4klH9m1e0Q8LHgLpcPYKNj6OdBMLqHgVA==

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