As markets pulled back in the face of rising trade and economic concerns, the fund slightly underperformed. A small negative contribution from stock selection was the cause. On the positive side, communications tower operator, Crown Castle, benefited from the defensive nature of its revenue stream. Data services and stock exchange operator, Intercontinental Exchange, gained from solid results and the rebound in equity market volatility over the month. Payments network, Mastercard, was stronger as investors reacted favourably to an acquisition and as some analysts raised their target prices following strong end of July results. On the negative side the insurance group Prudential was weak, despite solid results, as investors focused on rising operational headwinds. Concerns about slowing momentum in the industrial space saw medical products company, Mettler- Toledo International, succumb to profit taking. Meanwhile, interest rate sensitive bank, SVB Financial, was weaker on the yield curve inversion. The contribution from our geographic asset allocation was negligible as benchmark returns were remarkably well correlated. Sector allocation was a small drag, as the strong contributions from our zero weight in energy and our overweight in healthcare were more than offset by our underweight position in consumer staples and utilities, which were the two strongest performing sectors in the month.