In this Q&A from FundCalibre you can discover the strategy behind the Murray International Trust, which has achieved 20 consecutive years of dividend growth.
Co-manager Sam Fitzpatrick explains the fund’s evolving geographic allocation, reduced UK exposure, and increasing opportunities in US and emerging markets.
She discusses standout performers in technology, challenges in Latin America, and how currency movements impact returns. Sam also touches on fixed income trends, geopolitical uncertainty, and how strategic flexibility is key to navigating today’s volatile economic environment while preserving income growth.
Why you should listen to the interview: This interview offers unique insights into how a long-term, income-focused fund navigates a complex global landscape. From dividend heroes to shifting tech exposure, you’ll gain valuable insights into identifying resilient companies worldwide and balancing risk across regions.
This interview was recorded on 2 July 2025. Please note, answers are edited and condensed for clarity. To gain a fuller understanding and clearer context, please listen to the full interview.
Interview highlights:
Global shift in dividend sourcing
“As a global trust we’ve always strived to be as diverse as possible. But given the shape of the markets and what’s been happening in markets over time, we have gone from a position of really being heavily exposed to the UK — going back 20-25 years we had 40% in the UK — because we had to have that to deliver on the income front. Nowadays it is wildly different and I’m really delighted with that. So even 10 years ago we had something like 15% in the UK, we had about 7% in North America because there just weren’t enough income opportunities there. But nowadays those weights are about 7% in the UK, 27% in the US. So much, much more to choose from these days. And it’s not that we are targeting any particular weight to any particular region, it is all bottom up. It’s driven by what we’re seeing at company level, but just to have that variety now, that choice is far, far stronger.
The role of technology in a dividend portfolio
“It’s a barbell approach. Some of the tech names we have currently, which are mostly semiconductor related, currently those do have relatively low yields for us. The smallest yield we have is Broadcom with a dividend yield of just under 1% now. But we can have a little bit of room for names like that because you have the likes of your telcos and your healthcares and your staples from all over the world really offering yields in excess of 7% for example. So there is a balancing act.
“The exposure to tech has changed over time. So again, going back to the end of 2010 we’ve only had 4% in technology because a lot of tech companies then just saw it as a bit of a death nail. If you paid a dividend, you were holding your hands up, you were ex-growth. And that thankfully for us is no longer the case. We’ve got opportunities elsewhere to give us the ability to have some lower yielding names within tech if we think that dividend growth is there.”
The case for emerging markets
“Over the past 20 years Latin America has been the top contributor, if you look at it by region. So it’s generated 17% returns annualised in sterling over 20 years. So that alone makes it worthwhile considering. It’s not that we’re rushing in there — it’s got to be a company that we believe in. It’s covered just as rigorously as any business we would invest in.
“Sometimes people try to put words in our mouth almost like why we don’t like the Mag7 and it’s not that at all. It’s just that if you’re trying to deliver an above average dividend yield to grow the income, to grow the capital ahead of inflation over time, then having a big allocation there just would not make sense. People even now sometimes look at Latin America and think, well it must be lower quality, it must be more volatile. Yeah. You do get the currency volatility. That’s true. But the businesses themselves, it’s not that they’re any less well managed than any other company.”
Staying focused
“It’s been incredibly difficult recently because it’s just changing all the time. Even the headlines change and then there’s backtracking and almost like gaslighting, like ‘I never said that’. Yeah, you did. You just said it yesterday. So that’s been incredibly difficult and it’s difficult for the companies who have a lot of the time just, you know, taking away guidance because they don’t know the environment they’re going to be working in going forward. And I’d rather companies just said that than try to pretend otherwise.
“So I think that the idea of having just such a mix of different businesses operating in different parts of the world, some businesses we own are very domestic focused, others are truly global. But until we really know what we’re dealing with, we haven’t made any changes.
“We did some changes, but changes we had been thinking about anyway. It was using that uncertainty in general and volatility in general to take the opportunity to do things that we’ve been mulling over beforehand.”
Conclusion: As markets continue to evolve and uncertainties persist, the key takeaway from this conversation is the importance of adaptability and deep company-level research. A global approach grounded in fundamentals, paired with a disciplined focus on income and capital growth, remains a powerful strategy.
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