In last week's magazine, Shares focused on the methods by which leading fund managers identify genuine long-term growth opportunities, covering everything from the need for a growth mindset to bottom-up stock picking and the need to factor in top-down considerations.Now we turn the spotlight on the regional markets, themes and stocks which have some of the market's most admired investors...

Net asset value (NAV) underperformed in first half£300 million spent on share buybacksLong term approach to identify secular growthGrowth investing may be creeping back into favour as investors bet on an end to interest rate hikes, but that hasn?t yet fed through to the Baillie Gifford-managed Monks Investment Trust (MNKS) judging by first half results.Net asset value total return slipped...

Final dividend of 3.15pShare price return falls by 7%Unquoted companies exposure reduced to 4%Monks Investment Trust's (MNKS) net asset value for the year ending 30 April 2023 fell by 1.6% and underperformed its benchmark, the FTSE World Index.The share price total return fell by 7% compared to a 3.2% increase in the FTSE World Index.The Edinburgh-based investment trust blamed its performance...