“Existential” warnings dominated the news last month. Despite that ominous overhang, technology and smaller company trusts rallied in September, but it was a tougher month for interest rate sensitive real estate and private equity funds.

September’s top risers

Our tables show the total one-month return from an investment company’s share price in the middle column, and on the right the gap at 30 September between the price and the net asset value (NAV) of its investments excluding debt. Trusts with shares above NAV are said to stand on a “premium”, while those where the price is below NAV trade on a “discount”. 

Source: QuotedData 1/10/26

USA leaps ahead of crunch vote

Baillie Gifford US Growth (USA) was very much in the spotlight as its shares jumped 12.5% last month, our fifth biggest riser. The gain was ahead of the investment trust’s 8.8% growth in net asset value (NAV) with the result that its share price discount narrowed to 3.4% against a one-year average of 4.9%.

The advance was against an extraordinary backdrop with the company engaged in an escalating battle with its largest shareholder Saba Capital.

Meanwhile, Anthropic, the artificial intelligence lab that is its fourth biggest holding at 6.8% was issuing stunning warnings of the potentially “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity” from unregulated AI as the Claude chatbot developer prepared for a new record $2trn flotation next month.

Vote now to “preserve” USA

Saba, an activist hedge fund with a 29% stake in USA, is making a third attempt to oust the board at the annual general meeting on 23 October.

In a webinar last week, chair Tom Burnet and senior independent director Sue Inglis urged shareholders to vote against the three non-independent nominees Saba has proposed for election, saying that putting its largest shareholder in charge would likely bring an end to Baillie Gifford’s strategy of investing in the most exciting US growth stocks.

Investec analyst Alan Brierley said the situation was urgent, particularly with Sessa Capital, another New York hedge fund that is thought to be a Saba ally, holding 7.7% of the shares: “The choice is clear: preserve USA’s distinct proposition or give Saba influence over its future without knowing what follows. The threat is not merely disruption; it is the risk that the strategy underpinning USA’s long-term value creation could be dismantled just as the recovery gathers momentum,” said Brierley.

USA shares have soared 157% in the past three years but their five-year return of 20% still bears the scars of the 2022-23 crash.

Scottish Mortgage hits new high

It was a good month too for Scottish Mortgage (SMT), USA’s big sister that shares a number of holdings such as SpaceX and Anthropic. Shares in the £16.6bn FTSE 100 trust rose 6.6%, partly helped by US drone-delivery company Zipline seeing its valuation jump 120% to $20bn in a $1bn share sale. The Baillie Gifford flagship finished the month at £15.83, above its November 2021 peak of £15.28, leaving the shares up 114% and 28% over three and five years and on an 8% discount.

Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) and Polar Capital Technology (PCT) also enjoyed a choppy month in which US stocks advanced 5%, their shares up 8.3% and 6.6% respectively.

Mobius (MMIT), which repositioned towards AI suppliers in the first half of its financial year, rose 6.2% as its share price discount narrowed to 7% from a one-year average of 10.8%.

Syncona (SYNC) alleviated some of the performance pressure on its life sciences portfolio. Its shares, in which Saba owns a 16.4% stake, gained 8% last month in response to successful clinical trials at Beacon Therapeutics and the appointment of Dr Sam Roberts, former chief executive of NICE, as managing director to the investment’s trust’s manager Syncona Investment Management. It is hoped Roberts will help steer more of Syncona’s start-ups to profitability as the company targets returning £250m of capital to shareholders.

UK bids boost small-cap trusts

Opportunistic bids for undervalued UK companies have generated much-needed gains for some small-cap trusts, as Andrew McHattie discussed on our “In the Hot Seat” show on Friday.

Strategic Equity Capital (SEC) rallied 14%, partly inspired by the £189m private equity bid for education software provider Tribal Group. This underlined the relevance of comments in SEC’s annual results by Gresham House fund manager Ken Wotton about the benefits its other software holdings would derive from AI.  

Although primarily an investment companies activist, Achilles Investment Company (AIC) gained from a bid for Spire Healthcare, having previously decided to join other Harwood Capital funds in taking a stake. After their lacklustre performance following launch in February last year, the shares added 7.2% last month, narrowing their discount from 13% to 6.9%.

Onward Opportunities (ONWD) continued August’s 20% rebound with a further 9.7% gain in September that lifted the investment trust run by Laurence Hulse at Dowgate Wealth to £56m.

River UK Micro Cap (RMMC) rallied 7.3% after its board extended a share buyback programme following the previous month’s announcement that fund managers George Ensor and Mayan Uthayakumar were leaving their new employer Liontrust to join Jupiter. The £85m trust invests in UK micro-cap companies and has returned 79.6% over three years but shed 6.7% over five.

Positive wind-ups

Elsewhere, it was a positive month for several “alternative” funds in wind-up. Parvus Energy Efficiency Trust (AEET), formerly known as Aquila, topped the risers’ table with a 20.8% return after half-year results reported on progress in dismantling what are left of the £24m company’s assets.

VPC Specialty Lending Investments (VSL) rallied 13.8% after saying it would return most of a £9.3m loan repayment from Essor Group, its largest holding.

Symphony International Holdings (SIHL) advanced 13.6% after fund manager Anil Thadani bought shares in the £153m Asia private equity fund between 22 and 29 September, at prices from US$0.36 to US$0.40.

Ecofin US Renewables Infrastructure (RNEW) partly reversed an 11% fall in August by making a 9% gain in September, following half-year results on 18 September.

September’s biggest fallers

Source: QuotedData 1/10/26

Geiger countdown

Yields on long-dated US government bonds spiked to more than 5.6% last month on mounting concern over high oil prices, the exorbitant level of AI spending and the unsustainability of US debts. That provided a challenging economic backdrop for funds investing in mining, real estate, private equity and infrastructure.

Geiger Counter (GCL), the £65m fund that decided to stick with interim managers Diana Racanelli and Craig Bethune at Manulife CQS rather than follow its previous team to Tufton, was the month’s biggest faller. Its shares slid 18.3% to give back most of the fund’s 22% gain in August. The fall reflected a sharp sell-off in uranium equities, even as the long-term uranium price reached a record US$96/lb. The shares trade 6.9% below NAV with a three-year loss of 8% and five-year total return of just 6%.

BlackRock World Mining (BRWM) fell 8.6%, broadly in line with a 9.1% fall in NAV, giving back part of the 20% gain we saw in August over dollar “debasement” fears.

Reading across from the fallers seen in our REIT Review for September, TR Property (TRY) fell 8.7% in September, ahead of a 7.7% fall in NAV, with shares in the £884m pan-European portfolio ending the month on a 9.8% discount. Shareholders have made a 15% total return over three years but lost a quarter over five years.

Phoenix Spree Deutschland (PSDL) fell 12.3% with interim results on 28 September revealing a fall in NAV to €2.89 per share from €2.94 for the winding-down Berlin residential property fund as a result of a slowdown in condominium sales leading to cuts in asking prices.

Turning to growth capital and private equity funds, Schroders Capital Global Innovation (INOV) fell 12.1% as an over-subscribed 20% tender offer completed. Managed by Schroders Capital, the £78m former Woodford Patient Capital Trust began a shareholder-approved wind-down in February 2025. Shareholders have lost 57% over five years with the shares stranded 47% below NAV.

Chrysalis Investments (CHRY) fell 7.4% in September as the positive response to a £25m return of capital announced at the end of the month came too late to reverse earlier falls in the winding-down growth capital fund. The £318m trust trades at a 47.4% discount and has made an 11% return for shareholders over three years but lost them nearly three quarters over five years.

HgCapital Trust (HGT) fell 12% in September, reversing a 13% gain in August, as the £1.7bn software focused private equity fund’s discount widened from around 17% to 27.3%. Half-year results showed earnings growth in portfolio companies was more than offset by the market applying lower multiples when valuing these income streams.

Partners Group Private Equity (PEY) fell 7.6% after the underperformer increased its exit opportunity to 40% from 30%.

Elsewhere, Biotech Growth (BIOG) was the weakest trust in its sector, down 10.9% in line with the decline in NAV. Winding-down infrastructure funds GSEO and DGI9 fell 8.6% and 7.7% respectively.

In the UK Equity Income sector, Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT) had another poor month with shares in Nick Train’s trust down 7.8% in September. Smaller rival CT UK High Income (CHI) retreated 9.4%.

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