Personal Assets Trust PLC sells Coca Cola Co, buys more American Express Co and

PLC () said it recently sold out of its longstanding holding in Coca-Cola due to concerns including the industry’s packaging and waste issues, while it added to investments in the digital payments sector.

The investment trust reported a 2.9% rise in its net asset value per share to £438.67 for the half-year to the end of October.

Between April and the end of October, 2020 the managers nudged the portfolio’s level of liquidity back up to 57.8% from 55.5%. 

The little equity portfolio activity during the half-year, included selling its investment in Coca-Cola Co () that had been held since 2009, “due to what we believed to be persistent headwinds to volume growth over the long term”, along with a smaller holding in UK drinks maker (), with concerns about environmental scrutiny of the soft drink industry’s packaging and a secular shift in consumer preferences towards healthier alternatives. 

An investment was made in Becton Dickinson Inc (), described as “a wonderfully diversified portfolio of small-ticket, repeat purchase items that are indispensable to healthcare globally”, with the shares “acquired at an attractive valuation following a prolonged period of dull performance”.

Additions were made to the trust’s holdings in American Express Co () and Inc (), as both are expected to benefit from the acceleration in the shift to digital and contactless payment during the pandemic.