US Solar Fund (USF) has given its potential buyer a second extension to complete due diligence on a portfolio whose 42 assets it has been assessing for five months. The £115m investment trust, whose portfolio was stabilised by Amber Infrastructure Group when it replaced New Energy Solar Manager as investment adviser in December 2023, said […]
AVI Japan Opportunity Trust (AJOT) has launched its third uncapped annual tender offer, giving shareholders a chance to sell all their shares at a 2% discount to the value of its investments if they wish. Given the shares currently stand around 2% below net asset value (NAV), there is likely to be limited demand for […]
Saba Capital’s Boaz Weinstein and former Devon Equity Management chief executive Richard Pavry have joined the board of SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT). At a general meeting last Thursday Weinstein and Pavry were appointed as non-executive directors with just over 84% of votes on a 42.5% turnout. The £374m investment trust was put into managed […]
The QuotedData Investors’ Choice Awards are back, with voting now well under way (cast your votes here). We have already explained how the awards work (see my colleague Matthew Read’s article here) and why we believe private investors should have the final say. This year, for the first time, we have added two new Exchange […]
Janus Henderson has launched a US equity ETF with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0%, entering the increasingly competitive market for low-cost passive investment products. The Janus Henderson US Large Cap Equity Core UCITS ETF (J501) listed on the London Stock Exchange on 9 October and tracks the Solactive GBS United States 500 Index, […]
Schroder Oriental Income Fund (SOI) has been shortlisted in the Best country / regional / emerging category of QuotedData’s 2026 Investors’ Choice Awards. With voting now underway, we take a closer look at what makes this Asian equity income trust stand out and why it might deserve your vote. Asia is home to some of […]
Interview with Brown Advisory, EdgePoint and Sands In our latest edition of The Big Question, Mick Dillon, Tye Bousada and Danielle Menichella delve further into the realm of AI to discuss where AI disruption is likely to emerge, which industries could be the biggest winners and losers, and whether the market is getting the AI […]
Caution towards the surge in technology stocks by the managers of Fidelity Asian Values (FAS) saw the £377m Asia Pacific smaller companies investment trust underperform in the year to 31 July. Although Fidelity’s Nitin Bajaj and Ajinkya Dhavale did very well holding Taiwanese chip giant TSMC as their biggest position, a decision to underweight tech […]
JPMorgan UK Small Cap Growth & Income (JUGI) has reported a year of underperformance ahead of its merger with Aberdeen UK Smaller Companies Growth (AUSC). A lack of mining stocks and the AI sell-off in software stocks were the main factors in the £419m investment trust’s 7.2% investment return lagging the 9.8% gain in the […]
Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT), the underperforming UK equity income trust run by Nick Train, had a “challenging” September with net asset value (NAV) and the share price falling 7.9% and 7.8% against a 1.9% decline in the FTSE All-Share index. Despite that, both NAV and shares outperformed in the third quarter with respective gains […]
European investors have poured $12.3bn into unhedged Japanese equity ETFs so far this year, signalling a striking shift in attitudes towards the yen as demand for exposure to Japan’s stock market accelerates. The figure represents 82% of the $14.9bn in net inflows recorded by Japan-focused UCITS ETFs during the eight months to the end of […]
Updated with comments from fund manager Mark Boggett. Seraphim Space (SSIT) has declared 2025/26 a “watershed” year after the portfolio of mostly private space technology companies more than doubled with a 39.7% gain in the fourth quarter rounding off an exceptional 12 months. Annual results show net asset value (NAV) per share increased by 102.9% […]
Mercantile (MRC), the £1.7bn UK mid-cap investment trust run by JP Morgan, is parting company with Anthony Lynch, its co-manager for 14 years. Lynch will step down at the end of the month to take up “new responsibilities” at JPMorgan Asset Management. Manasij (“Manny”) Hajra, co-manager of the JPM UK Equity Growth open-ended fund, will […]
Workspace Group (WKP), the flexible office provider that in July beat off an attempt by activist Saba Capital to replace its board, says the additional £100m of disposals it identified in its defence strategy will not be achieved by its original timetable of March 2027. Charlie Green, the chief executive appointed eight months ago, said […]
Systematic investment strategies are attracting almost twice as much money as traditional discretionary stock pickers in Europe’s rapidly expanding active equity ETF market, according to new figures from Morningstar. Systematic active equity ETFs attracted €12bn of net inflows during the first nine months of 2026, compared with €6.7bn for discretionary strategies. Systematic funds use quantitative […]
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT) has committed £34.6m to the purchase and construction of a solar park in West Yorkshire as the 10%-yielder looks for growth investments to boost its annual returns under last year’s five-year plan. Bought from OnPath Energy, a leading onshore solar developer, the 55 MWp Barnsdale Solar Park is expected to generate […]
A trading update from Schroder Real Estate (SREI) shows the real estate investment trust has completed nine new lettings over the past two months as its joint acquisition of Picton Property completed. Although SREI will not comment in detail on the impact of the £404m all-share bid with LondonMetric (LMP) that completed on 11 September […]
Vietnam Holding (VNH), the £60m investment company managed by Dynam Capital, saw 14.7% of its shares tendered in its third annual redemption facility. Shareholders who sold will receive 371.45p per share with payments expected to be made around 21 October. This will leave the company with 15.7m shares in issue with a further 1.1m held […]
Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies (SST) has scrapped plans for a 25% tender offer and launched a strategic review that could see it merge with a rival. Following consultation with some of its largest shareholders, the biggest of which is discount hunter City of London Investment Management with a 17% stake, the £315m Asia small-cap trust […]
Lindsell Train (LTI) believes its shareholders have demonstrated “continued confidence” in the investment trust after a 20% tender offer was over-subscribed with 32.5% of shares put up for sale. Nearly 6.5m shares were validly tendered in the offer announced last month and approved by shareholders last Thursday, giving them the chance to sell shares at […]
Baillie Gifford US Growth (USA) has received a significant boost in its AGM battle with Saba Capital after the three leading, independent proxy vote advisers supported its position in the crucial vote. The £1bn investment trust said Glass Lewis, ISS and PIRC, which institutional investors use to advise them on company votes, had all recommended […]
Literacy Capital (BOOK) has sold its minority stake in Cubo Work back to the majority shareholder of the office and co-working space provider. Financial terms have not been disclosed but Richard Pindar, chief executive of BOOK’s fund manager, said the outcome was a bit better than its warning at the start of this month that […]
Achilles (AIC), the investment company activist launched by Robert Naylor and Chris Mills after their salvaging of shareholder returns at Hipgnosis Songs two years ago, is preparing for a second round of campaigns to revive its share price and invest a cash pile that stood at nearly £17m in June. The company’s maiden annual report […]
Saba Capital has disclosed a new 5% stake in Neuberger Private Equity Partners (NBPE), increasing pressure on the £560m investment company to narrow its 28% share price discount. The filing to the London Stock Exchange on Friday is the first time the activist hedge fund has formally stated its position, although its £38.7m Saba Capital […]
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF), the £247m battery fund that last month survived a wind-down vote proposed by activist Saba Capital, has announced a two-year tolling agreement on its three Texas projects with Canada’s MAG Energy Solutions (MAG). From 19 October, MAG will manage the bidding, scheduling and dispatch of GFS’ Snyder, Sweetwater, and […]
As government bond yields have been rising, investors have re-embraced the comfort blanket of AI stocks. However, there is an increasing sense that a lot is resting on the success of AI adoption – and that may not be a slam-dunk. There are a number of global fund managers actively seeking out alternative sources of […]
Interview with Tye Bousada from EdgePoint Techtronic is a leading manufacturer of power tools and equipment, with well-known brands including Milwaukee, Ryobi and Hoover. EdgePoint’s Tye Bousada believes the company is well positioned to benefit from the shift from corded to cordless tools, where it is the market leader, while its focus on specialist, efficiency-enhancing […]
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI) has unveiled a second year of underperformance with chair James Macpherson saying its fund managers had “underestimated the scale and market impact of the AI investment boom”. JP Morgan portfolio managers Helge Skibeli, who will retire in 2028, James Cook and Sam Witherow admitted the year to 30 June […]
Seraphim Space (SSIT) says Xona Space Systems has jumped to become its second biggest investment after a fund raising earlier this year added £52.2m to the valuation of the Californian company developing a constellation of low-orbit satellites. Seraphim invested $15m (£11.3m) from the £137m it raised in a C-share issue in May as part of […]
Baillie Gifford US Growth (USA) is urging its 13,000 private investors to vote as soon as they can to protect the investment trust from being taken over by its largest shareholder, Saba Capital. The £1bn investment company faces its third “existential” challenge from the hostile hedge fund. The US firm owns nearly 30% of the […]