Urquhart: myopic market has misunderstood 'disruptive' Facebook

Mark Urquhart shrugged off the pessimism surrounding social networking site Facebook to snap up a stake for his Edinburgh Worldwide trust.

The Citywire Selection manager said that after its blockbuster flotation sentiment around Facebook quickly cooled, creating a lucrative opportunity to buy in.

'The shares fell dramatically after the IPO but we believe a myopic market is fundamentally misunderstanding the company's disruptive power and its opportunity to grow revenues significantly,' Urquhart (pictured) said, pointing to fears over Facebook's ability to monetise its mobile presence, prompting the stock's crash.

Speaking to Edinburgh Worldwide shareholders, Urquhart also said he had also bought into Stratasys, the leading player in the nascent industry of 3D printing.

'This technology is falling rapidly in price and allows a large degree of customisation which we think has radical applications in industries as diverse as healthcare and construction,' the manager explained.

The two purchases capped a year in which Edinburgh Worldwide increased its net asset value (NAV) per share by 4.8%, and its share price by 6.3%, looking at the 12 months ended 31 October.

This compares to the fund's benchmark, the MSCI All Countries World Index (in sterling terms), which climbed by 6.2% over the same stretch.