Liontrust forced to abandon ESG trust IPO in firm’s ‘first set back’ in years: Failed to gain enough investor interest
Kathleen Gallagher 02 July 2021 Investment Week
Liontrust has abandoned the IPO of its ESG Trust, which had been pitted for 5 July, after failing to receive enough investor support, with commentators labeling the situation as “embarrassing” for the high-flying asset manager.
Liontrust, which had aimed to raise £150m, declined to disclose the exact level of commitment beyond the fact that it was “significant”.
“It is a bit embarrassing for Liontrust,” said Ben Yearsley, investment consultant at Fairview Investing. “They have been walking on water for the last few years and this is the first setback”…
Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at AJ Bell said the announcement “will come as a shock to just about everyone” and shows just how difficult it is to raise capital for investment trusts…
“Liontrust is the Vanguard of ESG and you would have expected them to get off the ground reasonably comfortably,” he said.
Liontrust will now renew its focus on building the open-ended funds run by the Sustainable Investment team…
Matthew Read, senior analyst at QuotedData, said the decision was “disappointing” and investors who would still like to get exposure to that market could consider two Montanaro funds which “have strong ESG and small cap focuses”.
Read more here