Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 5858Q

Personal Assets Trust PLC

05 August 2010

Personal Assets Trust plc

For the Three Month Period from 1 May 2010 to 31 July 2010

Investment Objective

Personal Assets is an investment trust run expressly for private investors. Its capital structure is the simplest possible for an investment trust, consisting only of ordinary shares. Its investment objective is to protect and increase (in that order) the value of shareholders' funds per share over the long term and to earn as high a total return as is compatible with a risk equivalent to that of the FTSE All-Share Index. Since Personal Assets invests for the long term, the Board assesses performance not annually at the end of each accounting year but over rolling three-year periods.

We aim to pay as high, secure and sustainable a dividend as is compatible with maintaining our investment flexibility. We intend the present dividend rate to grow in real terms relative to both the Retail Price Index and the Consumer Price Index and it is our policy never to cut the dividend rate, so shareholders know that each half-yearly payment will at least equal the previous one.

The Board's policy is to ensure that the shares of Personal Assets always trade at close to NAV.

Performance Summary

	As at 31 July 2010	As at 30 April 2010	Movement

Market capitalisation	£238.9m	£236.0m	1.2%
Shareholders' funds	£234.5m	£233.8m	0.3%
Effective liquidity ⁽¹⁾	46.1%	34.5%	-
Share price	£287.50	£289.50	-0.7%
Net asset value per share	£282.13	£286.75	-1.6%
Premium to NAV	1.9%	1.0%	-
FTSE All-Share Index	2,715.36	2,863.35	-5.2%

⁽¹⁾ Includes holding in Gold Bullion Securities of 11.7% at 31 July 2010 (30 April 2010: 9.7%).

Period Review and Material Events

A review of the year ended 30 April 2010 and of material events that took place during that period will be found in Personal Assets Trust plc's Annual Report. This also contains a review of the principal risks and uncertainties for our financial year to 30 April 2011.

Equity exposure was reduced following the rally in the first four months of the calendar year. The dividend yield on the FTSE All Share Index fell to as low as 3.1% in the Spring. Historically, returns from these starting levels are likely to lead to modest returns at best. Our concern is that investors, being offered so little on cash, are coerced into taking risk and buying equities at unattractive levels.

During the period, we sold down the FTSE Futures exposure and sold the holding in National Grid ahead of the £3.2bn rights issue announced in May. The company is highly indebted and required additional debt to grow. We see little point in investing in companies where we have to subsidise our own dividends and will always seek to invest in companies that have the financial strength to pay sustainable dividends without calling on their shareholders for additional capital. The holding in Royal Dutch Shell was also reduced. New holdings included Vodafone and Microsoft. Value is appearing selectively in blue chips which have been de-rated over the past decade. Microsoft boasts one of the strongest balance sheets in corporate America.Cash was received for the small holding in F&C UK Select as the investment trust was wound up.

During the three months ended 31 July 2010 the Company issued 15,728 Ordinary Shares for a total consideration of £4.5 million, representing 1.9% of the Ordinary Shares in issue at the beginning of the period.

Top Ten Holdings as at 31 July 2010

Company	Percentage of shareholders' funds	Percentage of equity exposure

British American Tobacco	5.8	10.8
Nestlé	5.1	9.5
Coca-Cola	4.8	8.9
Diageo	3.7	6.9
Philip Morris International	3.2	5.9
Vodafone	3.2	5.9
GlaxoSmithKline	3.1	5.7
Berkshire Hathaway	3.1	5.7
Tesco	2.9	5.4
Johnson & Johnson	2.8	5.2
Other equities (8)	16.2	30.1
Total	53.9	100.0

Geographical Analysis as at 31 July 2010

Country	Percentage of shareholders' funds

UK equities	27.3
US equities	19.6
European equities	5.1
Australian equities	1.9
Liquidity	46.1
Total	100.0

Sector Distribution as at 31 July 2010

Sector	Percentage of total assets	Percentage of FTSE All-Share

Oil & Gas	2.7	15.9
Basic Materials	3.8	11.8
Industrials	-	7.4
Consumer Goods	24.2	11.5
Health Care	5.8	7.6
Consumer Services	4.2	10.0
Telecom	3.2	6.1
Utilities	2.3	3.8
Financials	3.1	24.2
Technology	4.6	1.7
Liquidity	46.1	-

Total	100.0	100.0