EDINBURGH Investment Trust’s chairman has highlighted a background of “continuing uncertainty”, citing next month’s General Election and Brexit negotiations, while declaring some of President Donald Trump’s election promises could yet stimulate the US and the global economy.

Jim Pettigrew gave his views as EIT, managed by Invesco Perpetual, reported a 14.1 per cent total return on net asset value for the year to March 31. This was adrift of a 22 per cent total return on the £1.6 billion trust’s benchmark, the FTSE All-Share Index. But Mr Pettigrew flagged the trust’s outperformance of its benchmark over the last three, five and ten years.

Mr Pettigrew said: “Potential risks were highlighted in my chairman’s statement this time last year but to witness both the start of the process for the departure of the UK from the European Union and the election of President Trump in the US was probably long odds.”

He added: “The General Election on June 8 will represent the third time in two years that the UK electorate has gone to the polls. This, coupled with further elections in the EU together with Brexit negotiations, gives rise to an ongoing background of continuing uncertainty.

“Although President Trump is finding the business of government harder than he thought, it is still likely that some of his election promises – increased infrastructure and military expenditure, reduced corporation tax – could stimulate the US economy, and thus the world’s, at least in the short term.”

EIT’s final dividend of 9.15p-a-share makes 25.35p for the year, up 1p-a-share.