By Val Cipriani, Investors Chronicle, April 4, 2023: Social and economic infrastructure trusts continue to trade below their net asset value (NAV) despite an encouraging set of financial results, as worries over interest rates and valuations spooked investors. In the month to 31 March, share prices in the Association of Investment Companies’ infrastructure group dropped […]
Investment trust insider on infrastructure – James Carthew: Why investors see PINT half full in infrastructure beats me We are fully into the results season for investment companies with 31 December year ends. Amongst these are the infrastructure funds BBGI Global Infrastructure (BBGI) and International Public Partnerships (INPP). I scoured both their statements last Thursday […]
by Faith Glasgow from interactive investor, 28th March 2023: Share buybacks are used by investment trust boards to reduce the number of shares in circulation, as a mechanism for controlling the trust’s share price discount to net asset value (NAV)… But how far does that work in practice?.. A recent report by broker Numis notes […]
Investment trust insider on debt funds – James Carthew: Float your eye over debt funds As interest rates continue to climb, the future returns available from debt funds are looking more interesting. However, the picture is clouded by concerns about defaults. Some closed-end funds that should probably be raking in new money from investors are […]
David Brenchley, The Sunday Times, Sunday March 26 2023: A boardroom bust-up and the resignation of its chairwoman has compounded issues at Scottish Mortgage, the UK’s second-largest investment trust whose shares have more than halved in 16 months… What happened? A row erupted on March 17 when in remarks made to the Financial Times, Amar […]
By ANNE ASHWORTH FOR THE DAILY MAIL, 24 March 2023: The chairman of the biggest and best-known investment trust suddenly quits. Her exit follows the outspoken comments of a fellow director who questions whether the trust’s managers have the capacity to monitor its controversial stakes in private unquoted companies. Naturally, some investors are alarmed by […]
Mary McDougall, Financial Times, MARCH 25 2023: The boardroom bust-up at Baillie Gifford’s flagship Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has put the oversight of these venerable structures under an awkward spotlight. Last week the 114-year-old investment trust asked one of its non-executive directors to leave following a searing critique of the firm’s corporate governance. This week […]
By Dave Baxter, Investors Chronicle, March 22, 2023: The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT) has lurched into further difficulties, with its chair Fiona McBain stepping down in the wake of a boardroom spat over governance and monitoring of the trust’s sizeable exposure to private companies. The Baillie Gifford trust announced on 21 March that McBain […]
By Jessica Tasman-Jones, FT Ignites Europe, 22 March 2023: The resignation of Scottish Mortgage’s chairwoman will not be enough to settle shareholder concerns about the governance of the Baillie Gifford investment trust, analysts say. Fiona McBain will resign from her role following the 2023 annual general meeting and will step down from the board at […]
BY GAVIN LUMSDEN, Citywire Investment Trust Insider, 21 Mar 2023: Fiona McBain, the chair of Scottish Mortgage Trust (SMT), and Amar Bhidé, the rebel non-executive, are both departing as the Baillie Gifford flagship’s board undergoes wholesale changes. McBain, the former Scottish Friendly chief executive who has served as a non-executive director at the trust for […]
