Net assets of the Vilhena Funds SICAV have reached the €847.59 million mark as at the end of the financial year ended 30 April 2017. This was announced during the company's 20th AGM held at the Portomaso Suite, Hilton, Malta, where the board of directors presented the annual report and financial statements of the Company. All resolutions presented to the shareholders during the meeting were unanimously approved.

The company is licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority as a Collective Investment Scheme qualifying as UCITS and offers a wide selection of funds, which are invested across most asset classes and are exposed to different geographical regions.

Following the General Meeting, Mark Vella, Head of Business Development and Marketing at BOV Asset Management Limited spoke about the performance of international stock markets in the light of a number of political surprises experienced in 2016. He spoke about Brexit and its effect on the United Kingdom and European economies, and the surprise result of the United States of America election. Mr Vella said: "We were expecting these two main news items to impact most stock exchanges negatively; however we experienced the opposite, as most stock markets are now at record levels."

In the second part of his presentation, Mr Vella expanded on the performance of every fund on offer by the Vilhena suite of products. He mentioned that the most popular funds in Malta are those funds that distribute regular income with a special focus on the performance of the Vilhena Malta Government Bond Fund, the largest fund in Malta. He explained, "The current interest rate situation is such that the Fund was under pressure earlier this year in January but eventually recovered some of the losses later during the year. The Fund currently holds a duration close to 7.6 years and, given the current interest rate scenario, we are happy to keep a similar duration going forward unless there is a material change in Europe's economic outlook."

The recently launched online valuation tool was introduced. This tool is aimed at investors who want to view their portfolios online on a regular basis. "Going forward, all information which is currently being mailed to shareholders will be made available online, so there will be no need to receive or file paperwork - this is just the first step. More online services will be offered in the years to come," Mr Vella said.

At the end of the presentation, Mr Vella noted that almost 10 years after the most severe financial crisis, a broad based economic upswing is finally underway. "Leading economic indicators still support market fundamentals and, in situations like these, the benefits of continuing investing in portfolios diversified across asset classes and geographies on top of a meaningful strategic allocation, remain the best option."