Valhalla Ventures, the holding company of Preqin founder Mark O’Hare and his wife Linda, raised its new position in HgCapital Trust (HGT) from 3.3% to 4.4% on Tuesday, a disclosure showed yesterday. Preqin, an alternative assets data provider was bought by BlackRock for £2.5bn in 2024, netting a £2bn windfall for the company. At 463p today, the holding of over 20.2m HGT shares is worth £93.8m. On Thursday the £2.1bn private equity fund made the second purchase in the buyback programme launched last week, buying 100,000 shares at 457p. HGT stands on an 18% discount following a fall in its shares as part of a sell-off in software and data stocks in response to the launch of a legal artificial intelligence tool by Anthropic.
Saba Capital has increased its stakes in SDCL Energy Efficiency Income (SEIT) and Schroder UK Mid Cap (SCP). In SEIT the activist hedge fund has lifted from 12.5% to 13% and in SCP it has moved from 17.1% to 18.3%. The positions are held in a combination of physical stock and swap derivatives. SEIT stands on a 43% discount and is exploring its “strategic options” ahead of a three-year continuation vote in September. SCP stands 4% below net asset value. It will hold its first continuation vote in 2028.
Value investor Lazard Asset Management has taken a 5.4% position in Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies (SST), the £314m Asian small-cap trust trading on a near 12% discount.
Caxton Associates, a London-based global macro hedge fund, has raised its exposure to UK commercial real estate with a 5.4% holding in Land Securities (LAND) and 5.1% in British Land (BLND), which is buying Life Science REIT for £150m.
Custodian Property Income (CREI) says it is in “initial discussions” with a number of family offices about taking on their property portfolios. CREI said its £22m acquisition of Merlin Properties last summer offered a “strong blueprint” for growth at a time when share issuance was prevented by its 8% discount to net asset value and wealthy families were looking at ways to simplify their real estate exposure. Fund manager Richard Shepherd-Cross said there had also been a noticeable increase this year in share purchases by private investors as sentiment improved after the late November budget. During its third quarter to 31 December the company continued to drive occupancy and rental growth through strong leasing activity across the portfolio. NAV per share rose 0.9p to 99.8p over the three months to give an underlying 2.4% total return with the covered quarterly 1.5p dividend included.
Syncona (SYNC) has published a circular as it seeks shareholder approval for its new investment policy and fund manager incentives announced last October. A vote will take place on 3 March, to which Wellcome Trust, a 30.6% shareholder, has pledged its support. Under the policy, the company will prioritise the return of £250m of capital to shareholders rather than formally wind down. It had agreed to limit new investments in early-stage companies to no more than 5% of net assets as at 30 September, but now says it will cap them at £15m a year for the next two years to 30 September 2026 and 2027.
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