Overview
Nippon Active Value Fund is targeting attractive levels of capital growth for shareholders from the active management of a focused portfolio of quoted small cap Japanese equity investments with market capitalisations up to $1bn (although this is not a hard limit). The intention is to take large minority positions in investee companies to enable the Company to effectively implement activist strategies. The company intends to invest in businesses which are run by professional directors and not owner operator businesses, as it believes these will be more open to activist strategies. The company intends to acquire large minority stakes of typically 4.9 to 25.0% in each investee company.
you can access the fund’s website here
Fundamentals
Price
Research History
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17 Oct 2023 14 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Quarterly Review – Third Quarter 2023
Third quarter of 2023 Investment Companies | Quarterly roundup | October 2023 Kindly sponsored by abrdn ‘Uncomfortable’ Following a fast start to the first half of the year, globally equities took a breather in Q3, as markets assessed the implications of the worst bond sell-off in a generation. Yields on 10-year US treasuries and UK […]
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13 Oct 2023 10 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Roundup – October 2023
October 2023 Monthly roundup | Investment companies Kindly sponsored by abrdn Winners and losers in September 2023 September was defined by the ongoing US bond selloff, with global markets trending down in sympathy. Investment trust returns were negative on average for the month, although several sectors still achieved positive returns. The Royalties sector was the […]
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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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09 Feb 2023 9 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Roundup – February 2023
February 2023 Monthly roundup | Investment companies Winners and losers in January 2023 In a month where winners far outweighed losers, once again Chinese funds feature amongst the best-performing investment companies over the month, taking many of the top slots. China has barrelled ahead with the reopening of its economy following the lifting of COVID-related […]
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17 Apr 2020 8 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Quarterly Review – First Quarter 2020
Investment Companies Quarterly Roundup Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Table of contents In this issue Performance data Positive movers Negative movers Discounts and premiums Getting more expensive Getting cheaper Money in and out Money in Money out Major news stories Upcoming Events New research The legal bit Unprecedented times We have knitted […]
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07 Apr 2020 5 min read
QuotedData’s Economic Roundup – April 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 7 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Roundup – March 2020
Investment Companies Roundup Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Table of contents New research In this issue Performance data Discounts and premiums Money in and out Major news stories Income Events Guide New research Here is a list of research we published over February: An initiation note on Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Trust (MTU) […]
News
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08 Apr 2025 4 min read
Nippon Active Value delivers another year of outperformance
Nippon Active Value Fund has published results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2024. The trust beat its benchmark by decent margin, returning 15.2% in NAV terms and 16.8% in share price terms versus 6.8% for the MSCI Japan Smaller Companies Index. There is a dividend of 3.25p for the year, up from 1.6p […]
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04 Apr 2025 5 min read
The Great Wave (of returns) – Is now the time to invest in Japan?
The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a seminal piece of Japanese artwork. Created by Katsushika Hokusai in 1831, it depicts three ships struggling against the seas off the coast of Japan – and has been argued to be one of the most recognisable pieces of art ever made. In some ways it has also, until […]
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03 Apr 2025 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 3 April 2025 – BPCR, NAVF, AUSC
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 3 April 2025: We also have: Did you see from yesterday?
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17 Sep 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 17 September 2024 – AJOT, NAVF, LAND, HWG, CREI
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 17 September 2024: AVI Japan Opportunity (AJOT) made good progress over the first half of 2024, generating a return of 7.7% in NAV terms, well-ahead of the -0.2% return generated by MSCI Japan Small Cap and ahead of rival Nippon Active Value (NAVF) which also announced interims today and posted a […]
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06 Sep 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 6th September 2024
Thank you to everyone that listened in today on our YouTube channel. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: PRS REIT (0:41) SEGRO / Tritax EuroBox (4:02) Balanced Commercial Property Trust (6:41) Artemis Alpha / Aurora (8:10) JPMorgan Core Real Assets (10:33) Digital 9 Infrastructure (11:51) Andrew McHattie covered: Major rises over the […]
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03 Apr 2024 2 min read
Impressive returns for Nippon Active Value Fund
Nippon Active Value Fund (NAVF) announced its annual results for the year ended December 31, 2023. The company saw a strong NAV total return of 23.1%, with a share price total return of 41%, ahead of the benchmark MSCI Japan Small Cap index which returned 7.8% in sterling terms. The share price returned +41.1% over […]
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22 Sep 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news update 22nd September 2023
Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live, on Facebook or on YouTube. In this week’s show, Matthew Read covered the week’s top stories: • HICL Infrastructure (0:25) • GCP Infrastructure/GCP Asset Backed Income (2:24) • HydrogenOne Capital Growth (7:46) • Nippon Active Value (12:00) • Pollen Street (13:22) […]
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21 Sep 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 21 September 2023 – JARA, GIF, NAVF
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 21 September 2023: JPMorgan Global Core Real Assets (JARA) has provided a quarterly NAV valuation. As of 31 August 2023 the NAV per share of the trust was 95.37p per share, reflecting a negative total return of (2.0%) for the quarter and (8.0%) for the 12 month period. Gulf Investment Fund […]
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31 Aug 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 31 August 2023, BCPT, NAVF, IIP
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 31 August 2023: Balanced Commercial Property Trust (BCPT) says it has secured two key leasing initiatives in its industrial portfolio. At unit 8, Hams Hall Distribution Park, Birmingham, Nestle Purina, a leading pet care and food company, has agreed a 10-year lease extension commencing March 2025, with a break at the […]
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11 Aug 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 11th August 2023
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 covered the week’s top stories: • GCP Infrastructure / GCP Asset Backed Income / RM Infrastructure (0:40) • Nippon Active Value / Atlantis Japan Growth (13:56) • HydrogenOne Capital Growth […]
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6 min read
Atlantis Japan Growth to merge with Nippon Active Value
Atlantis Japan Growth (AJG) and Nippon Active Value (NAVF) have both announced this morning that their boards have agreed heads of terms for a proposed merger of the two trusts with AJG rolling over into NAVF. Similarly to the abrdn Japan (AJIT) scheme, which is already underway, the transaction would result in a larger company […]
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06 Jun 2023 2 min read
Another challenging year for abrdn Japan Investment Trust
abrdn Japan Investment Trust (AJIT) announced annual results for the year to 31 March 2023. The company’s net asset value total return for the period was -4.4%, in sterling terms, underperforming the TOPIX Index, the company’s benchmark, gain of 2.8%. The company’s share price ended the year at 13.9% with the discount to NAV per […]
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18 May 2023 3 min read
Surprise move to merge abrdn Japan and Nippon Active Value
Heads of terms have been agreed for a proposed combination of the assets of abrdn Japan Investment Trust with those of Nippon Active Value Fund. The abrdn Japan board says that the proposal follows an extensive review of various investment strategies in the Japan fund sector. It believes the case for taking advantage of recent corporate […]
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06 Apr 2023 3 min read
Nippon Active Value sitting on big war chest
Nippon Active Value Fund has published results for the year from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. At the end of the year, the NAV 140.5p, +3.5% over the year and the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index returned -1.6% (both in sterling terms). The closing share price on 31 December 2022 was 117.5p, reflecting […]
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07 Mar 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 7 March 2023
JPMorgan Emerging Markets (JMG) announced an impressive half-year result for the period ending 31st December 2022 with a NAV total return of 1.3%, comfortably ahead of its MSCI Emerging Markets Index which was down -2.1%. Share price returns were also strong, growing 5.1% for the period, closing the discount to around 9%. The results continue […]
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24 Feb 2023 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 February 2023 – EOT, NAVF, CRC, GRIT
European Opportunities Trust ( EOT) posted a 0.4% fall in NAV for the 6 months to 30 November 2022, underperforming its benchmark, the MSCI Europe Total Return Index, which grew 2.1%. Over the past 6 months the discount, which was 13.8% at the last close, has generally been outside the board’s desired parameters. Management believes […]
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09 Jan 2023 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 9 January 2023
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 9 January 2023: Downing Strategic Micro-Cap (DSM) has announced a cash exit facility, share buybacks, and subsequent strategic review. The board has previously announced its intention to offer shareholders a 50% share redemption opportunity in May 2024 at NAV. Should the cash exit facility be fully subscribed and, as a result, […]
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19 Jul 2022 1 min read
Nippon Active Value takes on Intage Holdings
Rising Sun Management, investment advisor to Nippon Active Value Fund, has sent a letter to the management of Intage Holdings (a Japanese marketing research firm), to notify it of several proposals that will be made at Intage’s forthcoming Annual General Meeting. A friendly management buyout (MBO) proposed in February 2022 has been rejected by Intage. […]
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31 Mar 2022 4 min read
2021 worked out well for Nippon Active Value
2021 was a great year for Nippon Active Value. It generated a total return on net assets of 22.3%, well ahead of the -1.4% return posted by the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index. A narrower discount meant that shareholders got a return of 26.8%. There is a dividend of 1.95p – up from 0.85p – […]
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08 Feb 2022 1 min read
Nippon Active Value to get win from Intage offer?
Nippon Active Value to get win from Intage offer? – Rising Sun Management, Nippon Active Value’s investment adviser, has offered to buy 100% of Japanese marketing research firm Intage Holdings for JPY1900 per share through its Japanese vehicle Hikari Acquisition KK. The offer values Intage at approximately JPY76.7bn. Paul ffolkes Davis, chairman of Rising Sun […]
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24 Nov 2021 3 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 November 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 November 2021: Nippon Active Value (NAVF) has confirmed gross proceeds of £14m were raised from the recent issue of 10,021,432 new Ordinary Shares at 139.70 pence per share. This represents a 1.5% premium to the NAV per share at close of business on 22 November 2021. Shares will be issued […]
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15 Nov 2021 1 min read
Nippon Active Value launches share issuance programme and PrimaryBid offer
Nippon Active Value launches share issuance programme and PrimaryBid offer – Following previous announcements to raise further capital, Nippon Active Value (NAVF) has confirmed that the Initial Issue will take the form of an issue of Ordinary Shares to be issued at a price equivalent to NAV plus a premium of 1.5% in respect of […]
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22 Oct 2021 1 min read
Nippon Active Value proposing capital raise
Nippon Active Value Fund (NAVF) is proposing to raise further capital “to pursue its proven model of activist investment in quoted Japanese companies” and has published proposals for a share issuance programme for up to 300 million Ordinary Shares or C Shares over the next 12 months. This programme will include an initial issue which […]
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01 Apr 2021 6 min read
Nippon Active Value reports on initial success
Nippon Active Value Fund has published its first full set of results for the period from its incorporation in October 2019 to 31 December 2020. The shares started trading on 21 February 2020. IPO subscriptions totalled £103m. By the end of the period, net assets had risen to £117m, representing a net asset value of 113.58p […]
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09 Feb 2021 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 9 February 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 9 February 2021 Nippon Active Capital looks to have scored a win as Mr. Shintaro Matsuki, President of Sakai Ovex Co., Ltd, using a special purpose company, Sakai Textile Co., Ltd., has launched a tender offer at ¥ 2,850 per common share for all of the outstanding equity capital of Sakai Ovex. […]
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27 Nov 2020 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 27 November 2020
QuotedData’s weekly news show 27 November 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 covered the week’s top stories: Schroder British Opportunities IPO Nippon Active Value’s plan to bid for a company CC Japan’s plan to issue […]
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26 Nov 2020 1 min read
Nippon Active Value targets Sakai Ovex
Nippon Active Value targets Sakai Ovex – Nippon Active Value Fund owns a 5%+ stake in Sakai Ovex (no. 3408, listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange). Today, the fund’s manager (Rising Sun Management) has sent a proposal to Sakai Ovex Co proposing that its board consider a management buyout of the whole company. This […]
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18 Nov 2020 1 min read
QuotedData’s Morning Briefing 18 November 2020
In QuotedData’s Morning Briefing 18 November 2020 – Ahead of its AGM on 25 November 2020, JPEL Private Equity (JPEL) provided an update on its realisation strategy, noting that its manager is in advanced negotiations to sell its largest asset, its interest in MBI Holding. The transaction price would be around its carrying value with […]
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02 Sep 2020 2 min read
Maiden interim results from Nippon Active Value sees 5.5% NAV increase
Nippon Active Value (NAVF) launched on 21 February on the London Stock Exchange, raising £103m (click here to read more). The company is an activist investor in smaller Japanese companies. It has released its first set of results this morning, with NAV per share increasing by 5.5% to 105.5p. As at 31 August, the company’s shares were […]
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05 May 2020 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 5 May 2020
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 5 May 2020 Diverse Income received redemption requests from holders of 20.2m shares (5.35%) of the company. The price that they get for their shares will be revealed later this month. That is not a bad result given the market backdrop, but Diverse Income has turned out to be one of the […]
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20 Mar 2020 2 min read
Nippon Active Value updates on progress after £103m February IPO
Nippon Active Value (NAVF) launched last month on the London Stock Exchange, raising £103m (click here to read more). The company is an activist investor in smaller Japanese companies. It has released an update on its progress since launching. “It would be an understatement to say that market conditions have changed over the last month. […]
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19 Feb 2020 2 min read
Nippon Active Value IPOs with £103m
Nippon Active Value IPOs with £103m – the trust had been hoping for £200m but, after a small delay, managed to get to £103m, which the board felt was enough to get going. The trust is competing in the listed space with AVI Japan Opportunity but, in practice against a large range of well-resourced hedge […]
Upcoming Events
In The Press
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04 Nov 2024 1 min read
Investment trust insider on Henderson International Income’s value versus growth choice
James Carthew: HINT chases growth just as value breaks through Henderson International Income (HINT) is supplementing dividends with payments out of capital to allow it to hold more low-yielding technology stocks. Is the move mistimed? Henderson International Income (HINT) has announced that following a spate of poor performance it intends to follow peers such as […]
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12 Aug 2024 1 min read
Investment trust insider on Japan’s sell-off
Investment trust insider on Japan’s sell-off – James Carthew: Surveying the damage from Japan’s savage selloff How does the land lie after Japan’s worst stock market crash since 1987 and as the US approaches its first rate cut, could the tide be set to turn for growth and small caps? Markets have been behaving oddly […]
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15 Jul 2024 1 min read
Investment trust insider on small caps
Investment trust insider on small caps – James Carthew: The world can’t be mean to small-caps forever The dominance of mega-cap tech stocks has exacerbated the underperformance of smaller company funds, but history suggests this should change. Mean reversion, the tendency for asset prices to return to their long-term average, is a wonderful thing. However, […]
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04 Jan 2024 1 min read
How do last year’s investment trust mergers stack up?
by Dave Baxter, Investors’ Chronicle, January 3, 2024: Even the last working day before Christmas was far from short of investment trust news. The board of Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT) announced an intention to merge with its peer Aquila European Renewables (AERI) on the morning of 22 December… The plan has received a lukewarm response […]
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18 Dec 2023 1 min read
Investment trust insider on 2023
Investment trust insider on 2023 – James Carthew: Dramatic 2023 leaves sector radically different The rationalisation of the sector continues. There has been a flurry of announcements over the past couple of weeks: Abrdn Diversified Income and Growth (ADIG) announced a managed wind down; Triple Point Energy Transition (TENT) declared it will begin an orderly […]
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02 Aug 2023 1 min read
Investment trust insider on corporate actions in abrdn’s funds
James Carthew: Need to cut charges lies behind Abrdn and trust changes The pace of change within the investment company sector appears to be accelerating. Just in the last few weeks we have seen Asset Value Investors win the mandate to run MIGO Opportunities (MIGO), though likely with the same management team as before, which […]
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28 Jun 2023 1 min read
Are activist investors the right managers to tap into Japanese equities?
By Jean-Baptiste Andrieux, Reporter, Trustnet, 28 June 2023: The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) fired a warning shot in late March to firms with a low price-to-book ratio, announcing that they will have to disclose their policies and specific initiatives for improvement, while non-compliers will be named and shamed. A price-to-book ratio below 1x has been […]
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31 May 2023 1 min read
Investment trust insider on mergers
Investment trust insider on mergers – The direct lending fund that should be expanding, not shrinking or disappearing Another investment company bites the dust as CT Property Trust (CTPT) becomes the latest to announce it is on the receiving end of a bid. This time, unlike Civitas (CSH) where I continue to think shareholders should […]
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22 May 2023 1 min read
Investment trust insider on Japan activists
Investment trust insider on Japan activists – James Carthew: Activists in Japan make the future Last week’s big surprise was the announcement of a proposed merger between Abrdn Japan (AJIT) and Nippon Active Value (NAVF). This is by no means a done deal, shareholders of both trusts will need to approve the proposal, and I […]
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20 Jul 2022 1 min read
Sell-off creates perfect opportunity to buy Japanese funds and trusts
James Crux, Shares Magazine, 14 July 2022: Long-term investors in Japanese shares have endured several false dawns since the country’s Nikkei 225 stock index peaked at above 38,900 points in 1989. At the time of writing, the Nikkei 225 sits at the 26,393 mark, about 15% off its autumn 2021 one-year peak of 30,670 and […]
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17 May 2022 1 min read
Asian trusts succeeding despite China
James Carthew for Investment Week, 16 May 2022: Most Asian funds have had a tough time recently, dragged down by their Chinese exposure. Government intervention in a range of sectors unnerved investors, but now the country has embarked on a new phase of stringent lockdowns in a bid to maintain its zero-Covid policy. Funds dedicated […]
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25 Jan 2022 1 min read
Investment trust insider on Japan
Investment trust insider on Japan – James Carthew: It’s not over for Japan growth but activists are unlocking value Last February I looked at Japan investment trusts and suggested that both the growth-oriented JPMorgan Japanese (JFJ) and value activists Nippon Active Value (NAVF) and AVI Japan Opportunity (AJOT) might be attractive. Then we had the […]
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23 Dec 2021 2 min read
The Japanese trusts on the biggest discounts or premium relative to their history
By Eve Maddock-Jones, Reporter, Trustnet, 10 December 2021 Trustnet continues its study into which trusts have the most inflated valuations and biggest discounts relative to their five-year average, this time focusing on Japanese investment trusts. Japan has been one of the most marmite markets over the past two years, topping the charts in 2020 only to […]
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16 Feb 2021 1 min read
Investment trust insider on Japan
Investment trust insider on Japan – James Carthew: Japan trusts backing internet winners and streamlining cash sinners Last summer I looked at JPMorgan Japanese (JFJ), which was the leading investment trust specialising in the country at the time, and it still is! Fund managers Nicholas Weindling and Miyako Urabe have hit a sweet spot in performance […]
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01 Feb 2021 1 min read
Ship shape and ready to float?
Ship shape and ready to float? IPO market picks up but headwinds remain for small launches Larger vehicles in better stead David Brenchley, Investment Week, 26 January 2021 The 21 months to end-September had been quiet for new issuance from investment companies, with 2019 the lowest annual total (£1.4bn) raised through IPOs since 2016, and […]
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03 Nov 2020 1 min read
Investment trust IPOs: time to buy?
The Big Theme Investment trust IPOs: time to buy? By Dave Baxter, Investors Chronicle With equity markets riding high, investment trust launches are finally making an appearance this year. Home REIT (HOME), a trust that invests in accommodation for the homeless, raised £240m in October and Triple Point Energy Infrastructure Company (TEEC) amassed £100m. Other trusts that have announced plans to float include Round Hill […]
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08 Sep 2020 1 min read
Investment trust insider on new and newish funds
Investment trust insider on new and newish funds – James Carthew: Let’s hope new trusts are more open than recent launches After a long hiatus, the flotation window appears to be opening up. I thought this week I would have a look to see how the last crop of investment company launches – Nippon Active Value […]
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25 Feb 2020 1 min read
What does the future hold for investment trust activism?
Lauren Mason for Investment Week What does the future hold for investment trust activism? – QuotedData’s James Carthew shares his views An active year for trust boards According to NAVF’s website, the management team will pursue “multiple activist strategies” including communication with management teams and boards, putting company representatives on the board of investee companies, […]
