News

29 Sep 2025

JPMorgan Emerging Markets hikes dividend to woo investors and steal march on its smaller sibling trust

Under-pressure JPMorgan Emerging Markets (JMG) is proposing to more than double its dividend and change its name to attract more investors to shares trading 9.5% below their real value. In annual results for the year to 30 June, the £1.2bn investment trust said it would ask shareholders to approve lifting payouts to 1% of NAV […]

29 Sep 2025

Merchants Trust underperforms after missing “remarkable” Rolls-Royce rally

Merchants Trust (MRCH) regrets not holding Rolls-Royce (RR), the engineering group making a remarkable comeback under chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic. Shares in the aerospace engineer and small nuclear reactor manufacturer soared 78% in the six months to 31 July, a major contributor to the £938m UK equity income trust underperforming in its half-year results released […]

29 Sep 2025

Morning briefing: Henderson European shareholders approve Fidelity merger; plus ASLI, DUKE, GCL

Fidelity European Trust (FEV) has completed its combination with Henderson European Trust (HET) after shareholders in the latter approved the merger on Friday. FEV will buy £462.7m net assets from HET for the issue of over 111.9m new shares. Added to FEV’s net assets of £1.7bn this will give the enlarged company over £2.1bn, enshrining […]

26 Sep 2025

Activist Saba Capital prepares active ETF launch to take its investment trust campaign to a new level

Activist hedge fund Saba Capital plans to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) to achieve its goal of having a vehicle targeting investment companies and trusts on wide share price discounts. The Saba Capital Investment Trusts Ucits ETF is awaiting approval by regulators in Ireland, where it would be domiciled, the Financial Times reported. It will […]

26 Sep 2025

Digital 9 Infrastructure was disastrously overvalued by at least £111m in 2023, review finds

Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9), the worst example of value destruction among investment companies in the past three years, has stabilised its portfolio in the first half of the year and should be ready to return what is left of shareholders’ capital in early 2026 after the revelation that its accounts were massively overvalued two years […]

26 Sep 2025

Octopus Titan VCT skips dividend after Trump turmoil extends its poor performance

Octopus Titan VCT (OTV2), the struggling £403m technology venture capital trust, has decided not to declare an interim dividend after posting another half-year of underperformance. “We recognise that this outcome will be disappointing to shareholders; however, dividends are ordinarily a distribution of investment gains (of which a material proportion should be realised rather than unrealised), […]

26 Sep 2025

Morning briefing: Abrdn New India tweaks investment policy; plus PSDL, CVCG, BSRT, UIL, PIN

Abrdn New India lifts the maximum amount it can hold in a single stock; half-year results from Phoenix Spree Deutschland and CVC Income & Growth; plus updates from Baker Steel Resources, UIL and Pantheon International. Abrdn New India (ANII) amends its policy on single stock exposure to provide the fund manager with more flexibility following […]

25 Sep 2025

Morning briefing: Goldman Sachs’ Petershill soars on stock market exit; plus IGC, DIG, PINT, NBPE, ARR & PCTN

Petershill Partners prepares to delist after four unsuccessful years on the UK stock market while India Capital Growth, Dunedin Income Growth, Pantheon Infrastructure, NB Private Equity and Aurora UK Alpha issue half-year results and Picton Property completes the sale of its largest office. Petershill Partners (PHLL) shares jump 33% after the £2.5bn Goldman Sachs fund […]

25 Sep 2025

High-flying AI fund Manchester and London stops share purchases to avoid devastating tax bill

Manchester and London (MNL), the tech-laden global fund spectacularly riding the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, has halted share buybacks and share purchases by insiders in an effort to preserve its investment trust status and avoid a damaging tax bill. In its annual report issued yesterday evening the £331m company said the free float of shares […]

25 Sep 2025

Target Healthcare shares rise on “landmark” £86m disposal

Target Healthcare (THRL), the £583m care home investor whose shares trailed on a 22% discount, has sold nine properties for £85.9m at an 11.6% premium to their 30 June valuation. Kenneth MacKenzie, chief executive of Target Fund Managers, which runs the £712m portfolio, hailed it as “landmark” deal, the largest disposal in the real estate investment […]