Bill Gross of PIMCO's investment outlook for August.
The slowdown now underway in China should be seen as a normalisation of growth. It is unlikely to lead to a hard landing.
Risk-averse investors favouredstocks that are perceived as less volatile and this was beneficial for the Underlying Fund’s holdings in more cash-generative companies.
The MSCI World index delivered negative returns in June as investors reduced risk amid fears that the global recovery was losing momentum.
In June 2010, the United Gold and General Fund declined 0.8% as compared to the 1.74%2 fall in the composite benchmark index (70% FT Gold Mines Index and 30% HSBC Global Mining Index).
The United Commodities Plus Fund was largely flat with a small decline of 0.89% in the second quarter of 2010.
While the stress tests were perhaps too soft, they have provided a line in the sand. The European banking system appears reasonably well placed to withstand a conventional downturn.
European equities rose last week as encouraging earnings reports and economic news overshadowed uncertainty about the results of the EU stress test, which were published after markets had closed.


