Overview
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust (formerly Standard Life UK Smaller Companies : SLS) tries to achieve long-term capital growth by investment in UK-quoted smaller companies. The trust invests in an actively managed portfolio of smaller and mid-sized companies in the UK equity market. The managers try to identify improving situations that are not fully recognised by the market, and to produce long-term capital growth and outperformance of the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies Index (excluding investment trusts).
You can access the manager’s website here
Fundamentals
Price
Research History
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14 Sep 2023 41 min read
QuotedData’s Economic and Political Monthly Roundup September 2023
Economic and Political Monthly Roundup Investment companies | Monthly | September 2023 August was a moderately volatile month for markets as the economic picture in China worsened. Developed markets held up better than emerging markets. Yields on US government debt rose. Oil prices edged up, but the big jump was in natural gas prices as […]
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06 Apr 2023 82 min read
QuotedData’s Economic and Political Monthly Roundup April 2023
Economic and Political Monthly Roundup Investment companies | Monthly | April 2023 A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairs and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage […]
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13 Oct 2022 14 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Quarterly Review – Third Quarter 2022
Third quarter of 2022 Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Piling on the misery In the face of rising inflation, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, central bankers have condemned for their relative inaction. However, in the third quarter of 2022, they stepped up a gear. Last month’s economic and political roundup […]
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06 Oct 2022 111 min read
QuotedData’s Economic and Political Monthly Roundup October 2022
Economic and Political Monthly Roundup Investment companies | Monthly | October 2022 A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairs and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to […]
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09 Oct 2020 7 min read
QuotedData’s Economic Roundup – October 2020
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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10 Mar 2020 6 min read
QuotedData’s Economic Roundup – March 2020
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Polar Capital and Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you […]
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06 Dec 2019 6 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – December 2019
Investment Companies Roundup Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford Table of contents New research In this issue Performance data Discounts and premiums Money in and out Income Events New research Here is a list of research we published over November: An initiation note on Henderson High Income “We have initiated coverage on Henderson High Income (HHI). Since […]
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11 Sep 2019 3 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – September 2019
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Polar Capital and Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you […]
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07 Aug 2019 3 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – August 2019
Investment Companies Roundup New research Over July, we published notes on CQS New City High Yield, BlackRock Throgmorton, Strategic Equity Capital, Seneca Global Income & Growth, CG Asset Management, Standard Life Investments Property Income and Aberdeen New Dawn. You can read all these notes by clicking on the links above or by visiting www.quoteddata.com. In this issue Performance data – appetite […]
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08 May 2019 3 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – May 2019
Investment Companies Roundup New research Over April, we published notes on Henderson Diversified Income, Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure, Jupiter Emerging and Frontier Income, Seneca Global Income & Growth and Polar Capital Global Financials Trust. You can read all these notes by clicking on the links above or by visiting www.quoteddata.com. In this issue Performance data – it was […]
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22 Mar 2019 2 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – March 2019
QuotedData’s economic roundup – March 2019 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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16 Oct 2018 2 min read
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – Third Quarter 2018
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – Third Quarter 2018 Global equities delivered positive returns over the third quarter of 2018. This was principally because of strength in the US market. Political uncertainty and concerns about global trade held back other regions. Generally, government bond yields rose over the quarter. The UK equity market fell as the Bank of […]
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14 Sep 2018 2 min read
QuotedData’s Economic round up – September 2018
QuotedData’s Economic round up – September 2018 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – September 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – September 2018 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of August 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Money raised and returned in August GRIT Real Estate Income floated on the UK Stock Exchange in […]
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18 Jul 2018 2 min read
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – Second Quarter 2018
QUARTERLY INVESTMENT COMPANIES ROUNDUP – SECOND QUARTER 2018 Global equities markets rose in the second quarter of 2018, Markets were volatile, as positive economic data and encouraging company performances played off against geopolitical concerns. Yields from bond markets rose early in the quarter but fell back as investors turned to ‘safer’ investments. The threat of […]
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11 Jul 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – July 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – July 2018 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of June 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. July Investment Companies Roundup Money raised and returned in June Newcomer to the market, Yew Grove […]
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25 Apr 2018 1 min read
Quarterly investment companies roundup – First quarter 2018
Quarterly investment companies roundup – First quarter 2018 Quarterly investment companies roundup – First quarter 2018 – Global equity markets declined in the first quarter of 2018. Concerns about US interest rate rises were the feature of the first half of the quarter. However, worries about global trade took over in the second part, particularly […]
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13 Mar 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s Economic round up – March 2018
QuotedData’s economic round up – March 2018 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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11 Dec 2017 2 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – December 2017
QuotedData investment companies roundup – December 2017 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of November 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. December Investment Companies Roundup Money raised and returned in November There were no […]
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12 Oct 2017 1 min read
QuotedData’s economic round up – October 2017
QuotedData’s economic round up – October 2017 – is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or […]
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15 Mar 2017 1 min read
QuotedData’s round up of views on the global economy – March 2017
A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the companies mentioned. Kindly sponsored […]
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13 Oct 2016 1 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – October 2016
Our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of September 2016. october-investment-companies-roundup
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1 min read
QuotedData’s round up of views on the global economy – October 2016
QuotedData’s collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from comments made by chairman and managers of investment companies. october-economic-and-political-roundup
News
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01 Nov 2024 3 min read
Jury is out on Reeves’s bumper tax-grab budget
QD view: The budget has been dominating headlines this week. We set the scene and covered the big changes in the budget earlier in the week. The question is, what effect will this have on the UK economy and the trusts that are exposed to it? National Insurance hit to big employers This week’s interview […]
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05 Sep 2024 4 min read
Much better year for abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust has published results for the 12 months ended 30 June 2024. Over the year, the NAV total return was 18.1%, well ahead of the 10.0% return generated by its benchmark (the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies, plus AIM, ex Investment Companies, Index). A narrowing discount meant that shareholders did even […]
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25 Aug 2023 2 min read
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth struggles against market headwinds
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust (AUSC) has released annual results for its financial year ending 30 June 2023. Over the 12 month period AUSC generated a negative NAV total return of -7.4% and a negative share price total return of -6.8%, both of which underperformed their reference index, the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM […]
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28 Apr 2023 4 min read
QD view – Finding courage in uncertain times
Fortune favours the brave, or so they say, and, as it turns out, so do the markets. One of the most important factors in investing is simply being first to bat, as by the time your turn comes, the game could be already over. Putting aside the metaphors, there is a distinct possibility that we […]
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02 Nov 2022 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 2 November 2022
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 2 November 2022: Princess Private Equity (PEQ) will not pay a second interim dividend. It says that the dividend suspension is needed because the company’s currency hedging activities have led to outflows of more than €60m to settle currency hedging contracts. It also says that challenging debt markets are having an […]
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08 Sep 2022 3 min read
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth struggles as Nimmo bows out
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust has published results covering the 12 month period ended 30 June 2022. The trust underperformed its Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (ex Investment Companies) Index benchmark by some margin, returning -27.3% in NSAV terms and -34.3% in share price terms against -19.0% for the index. The dividend increased by […]
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06 Sep 2022 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 September 2022
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 September 2022: abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust (AUSC) says that, after 37 years with Standard Life and abrdn, Harry Nimmo will retire at the end of 2022 and will, therefore, step down as co-manager of the company at that time. Abby Glennie, who has worked alongside Harry in the […]
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19 Aug 2022 3 min read
QD view – small is beautiful
It has been a tough first half for smaller companies, with the FTSE SmallCap trailing the FTSE 100 by around 13% for the year to date. While small companies are said to have sustained their operational performance, sentiment has run against them. Nevertheless, it is not the moment to give up on the sector: the […]
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24 Feb 2022 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 February 2022
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 February 2022: Pantheon International (PIN) has posted its interim results for the six months to 30 November 2021. Over the period, the trust delivered 22.1% NAV increase and a 17.6% increase in its share price, while it continued to benefit from a supportive exit environment with realisations primarily to strategic […]
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28 Oct 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 October 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 October 2021: Standard Life UK Smaller Companies (SLS) has changed its name to abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth. Its ticker has changed to AUSC. Aberdeen Emerging Markets (AEMC) has changed its name to abrdn China. Its ticker has changed to ACIC. HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE) has posted its results […]
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07 Sep 2021 2 min read
Standard Life UK Smaller reports on difficult year
Standard Life UK Smaller reports on difficult year – Standard Life UK Smaller Companies reports that, for the year ended 30 June 2021, it generated a return on NAV of 41.9% and a return to shareholders of 46.9%. However, both of these figures are below the return on the company’s benchmark – the Numis Smaller Companies […]
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11 Sep 2020 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 11 September 2020
In QuotedData’s weekly news show 11 September 2020 Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live, on Facebook or on youtube. In this week’s show, James Carthew and Richard Williams covered the week’s top stories: Standard Life UK Smaller companies’ results A rush of announcements from Hipgnosis that could change the nature of […]
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09 Sep 2020 2 min read
Annuals from Standard Life UK Smaller following long-predicted downturn
Standard Life UK Smaller (SLS) has reported its annual results to 30 June 2020, with total NAV and share returns coming in at (0.5%) and (0.1%) respectively. The company’s reference index, the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (ex-investment companies) index, returned (10.7%). March was a particularly sombre month for the UK smaller companies sector – […]
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29 Aug 2019 2 min read
Flat year for Standard Life UK Smaller – that’s good
Flat year for Standard Life UK Smaller – that’s good After a difficult start, when the NAV dropped by 19.5% in total return terms, Standard Life UK Smaller Companies came roaring back in the second half of its financial year to finish with an NAV total return of -1.1% and a share price return of […]
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24 Aug 2018 2 min read
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies – outperformance, merger and lower fees
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies – outperformance, merger and lower fees – the NAV of Standard Life UK Smaller Companies (SLS) delivers a total return of 24.8%, compared with the total return of 8.5% of it’s reference index, the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index. Outperformance The company’s performance was good throughout the year in question with a particularly […]
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19 Jul 2018 1 min read
Investment Trust Insider on how to grow trusts
Investment Trust Insider on how to grow trusts James Carthew: imponderable questions in quest for scale Last week I addressed the uphill battle Ashoka India Equity (AIE) faces if it wants to expand, having raised just £46.5 million in its flotation. It is by no means the smallest fund out there, however. Many of the very smallest funds […]
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28 Feb 2018 1 min read
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust changes its reference benchmark
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust changes its reference benchmark – In the company’s half year statement published at the end of February 2018, it was announced that, with effect from 1st January 2018, the performance of SLS will be measured against the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (ex Investment Companies) index. The previous index had […]
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05 Sep 2017 2 min read
Fevertree helps power Standard Life Smaller Companies to another year of outperformance
Fevertree helps power Standard Life Smaller Companies to another year of outperformance – Standard Life Smaller Companies says that, for the year ended 30 June 2017, its diluted net asset value total return was 35.0%, compared with a total return of 29.1% for the Numis Smaller Companies ex Investment Companies Index. The share price total return, calculated […]
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20 Jun 2017 1 min read
Investment Trust Insider on UK Small Cap
From an economic standpoint recent news in the UK has been worrying. House prices are falling and so are retail sales. Inflation has exceeded the Bank of England’s target and so the monetary policy committee is edging closer to raising interest rates. We have a hung parliament and we are just about to embark on […]
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27 Feb 2017 4 min read
Mining underweight sees Standard Life UK Smaller Companies modestly underperform
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies has announced its interim results for the half year ended 31 December 2016. During the period, the company provided an NAV total return of 16.7% and a share price total return of 17.7%, these both modestly underperformed the company’s ‘reference index’, the Numis Smaller Companies Index (excluding Investment Companies) Index, […]
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01 Sep 2016 3 min read
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies beats benchmark by 10%
For the year ended 30 June 2016, Standard Life UK Smaller Companies’ diluted net asset value total return was 4.1%, compared with a total return of -6.6% for its benchmark. The Board is recommending a final dividend of 5.20p per share, an increase on last year’s final dividend of 18.2%. If approved, the final dividend, […]
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22 Feb 2016 2 min read
Standard Life UK Smaller posts “remarkable” performance
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies’ diluted net asset value total return was 15.2% for the six months ended 31 December 2015. This compares with a total return of -1.0% for the Company’s benchmark, the Numis Smaller Companies Index (excluding Investment Companies). The Board say the outperformance is remarkable given stock markets have proved challenging over the period. The […]
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28 Jan 2016 2 min read
F&C Managed Portfolio beats UK market
F&C Managed Portfolio Trust has published interim results for the six months ended 30 November 2015, announcing a net asset value total return of -5.1% for the Income shares and -2.4% for the Growth shares compared to the FTSE All-Share Index return of -6.4%. The key drivers of the performance of the Growth Portfolio were […]
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02 Dec 2015 1 min read
Standard life UK Smallers – changes to DCM and fee arrangements
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust, managed by Harry Nimmo (pictured), has announced some changes to its managaement fee and discount control policy. The company has agreed with the investment manager that, with effect from 1 January 2016, a tiered management fee will be introduced with the current fee of 0.85% continuing to apply to […]
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01 Sep 2015 1 min read
Standard Life UK Smallers – ‘steady if unspectacular out-performance’
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust, managed by Harry Nimmo (pictured), has announced its results for the year ended 30 June 2015 during which, the Company’s diluted net asset value total return was 14.2%, beating a total return of 10.4% for the Company’s benchmark. The manager describes the year as being characterised by steady if […]
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23 Feb 2015 1 min read
Good interims from Standard Life UK Smaller Companies
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies has published interim accounts for the six months ended 31 December 2014. It beat its benchmark over this period, returning 1.6% on net assets as compared to a -1.3% return on the Numis Smaller Companies Index (excluding Investment Companies) and the FTSE100 Index of the largest UK listed companies fell by […]
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02 Sep 2014 1 min read
Standard Life UK Smallers hit by rate rise fears
SLS : Standard Life UK Smallers hit by rate rise fears Standard Life UK Smaller Companies has published results for the year ended 30 June 2014 that show it underperforming its benchmark by some margin. Over the year the net asset value total return was 7.7% vs. 20.3% for the Numis Smaller Companies ex Investment […]
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28 Feb 2014 1 min read
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies : SLS – Interims
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies interim report covering the second half of 2013 shows the fund underperforming its benchmark by some margin (NAV total return 17.6% vs. Numis Smaller Companies ex Investment Companies return of 21.0%). The share price did better than the NAV, returning 19.6%. The manager’s report ascribes the underperformance to lack of […]
Upcoming Events
Videos
In The Press
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14 Oct 2024 1 min read
Stocks that investment trust managers are backing for a UK recovery
By James Carthew, QuotedData for Trustnet, 14 October 2024: After a long period in the doldrums, there are glimmers of hope that investors might start to favour UK small-caps once again. Small-caps tend to outperform large-caps over the long term and the UK market is still very much cheaper than the US. With that in […]
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11 Oct 2022 1 min read
Bargain Hunter: 12 investment trusts near biggest discount in five years
by Kyle Caldwell, interactive investor, 11th October 2022: Investment trust discounts have widened notably since the beginning of the year, rising from 1.5% to 15.7% for the average discount, according to analyst Winterflood. The bear market that’s played out this year in response to high levels of inflation, increases in interest rates and geopolitical tensions, […]
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10 Oct 2022 1 min read
‘Buying opportunities are better than ever’ for investment trusts
Eve Maddock-Jones, Investment Week, 05 October 2022: Investment trusts have been pushed to the widest discounts in years due to the abnormally high levels of market volatility and uncertainty. This includes not only closed-ended portfolios that have been running on a discount long-term, but portfolios that have historically run on significant premiums now being reduced. […]
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03 Oct 2022 1 min read
The UK trusts trading on the widest discounts relative to their recent history
By Tom Aylott, Reporter, Trustnet, 30 September 2022: Those holding UK trusts over the past decade could have seen a sizable return on their investment, with the IT UK Equity Income and IT UK All Companies sectors up 83.8% and 69.5% respectively, according to data from QuotedData. But it is the trusts in the IT […]
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23 Sep 2022 2 min read
What should I do when my fund manager departs?
James Crux, Shares Magazine, 22 September 2022: On 5 September, asset manager Abrdn (ABDN) announced that veteran and very successful fund manager Harry Nimmo will retire… When a fund manager who has forged a particularly strong track record exits stage left, it is tempting to immediately sell your fund units or investment trust shares. However, […]
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08 Mar 2021 1 min read
Is it time to shop for a high street investment bargain?
Is it time to shop for a high street investment bargain? Lockdown rules will ease, while a tax on online sales could hit internet stores By ROSIE MURRAY-WEST, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY PUBLISHED: 21:51, 6 March 2021 | UPDATED: 08:47, 7 March 2021 The country’s shuttered stores breathed a sigh of relief last week as the Chancellor announced an extension […]
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21 Sep 2020 1 min read
Cash in on the work at home winter winners
How to cash in on the work at home winter winners: Should you invest in Greggs as sausage rolls replace sushi – and go local with property? By ROSIE MURRAY-WEST, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY PUBLISHED: 21:53, 19 September 2020 | UPDATED: 09:37, 21 September 2020 If you’re expecting to settle in for a winter without the commute, you’re not […]
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17 Dec 2019 1 min read
Investment trust insider on UK equity trusts
Investment trust insider on UK equity trusts – James Carthew: UK trust laggards should merge not seek new fund managers UK investment trusts of all types are enjoying a post-election rally, particularly those with the highest perceived exposure to domestically-focused companies. I am kicking myself for not having bought Aberforth Split Level Trust (ASIT), one of […]
