Biotech Growth (BIOG) is ploughing on with share buybacks in the hope investors will soon sit up and notice the startling recovery in its shares. Since early April, when the investment trust had tumbled to more than a six-year low on Trump tariff fears, the shares have shot up 77%, lifting its market valuation to […]
Last month was a great one for investment companies exposed to gold, biotechnology, emerging markets and corporate actions aimed at restoring shareholder value. Infrastructure fund prospects look less than golden with high interest rates and declining power price forecasts, but one £422m renewables portfolio perhaps deserves a closer look with shares on a wide 35% […]
Strategic Equity Capital (SEC), a UK smaller companies fund managed by Ken Wotton at Gresham House, has avoided a damaging exodus by investors but will have to soldier on with a diminished portfolio after 22%, or 9.5m, of its shares were tendered in this month’s 100% tender offer. That leaves the investment company with £142.8m […]
British Land reports a strong start to its financial year; Renewables Infrastructure Group signs a power supply contract with Virgin Media O2; plus news from Oakley Capital Investments, EJF Investments, RTW Biotech Opportunities, Abrdn Asia Focus, Sirius Real Estate, Great Portland Estate and Sequoia Economic Infrastructure. British Land (BLND) shares gain 5.6% to 382.8p in […]
The long period of poor performance by Nick Train’s £1.1bn UK equity income trust presents a challenge ahead of a shareholder continuation vote in January. Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT) fund manager Nick Train has vowed to make no changes to his investment process after the investment trust fell to a loss for the year […]
Target Healthcare (THRL), a £580m investor in care homes, is lobbying the government to reconsider its proposed ban on upward only rent reviews in leases made in July. “Whilst aimed at retail properties, this has the potential for significant unintended consequences elsewhere,” even if legislation was not retrospective the real estate investment trust said. “We […]
Oakley Capital Investments (OCI), the £965m investor in Oakley Capital’s private equity funds, is investing £10m in ONHC, an Italian specialist private healthcare insurance services provider, as part of a bigger investment by the fund manager. OCI’s investment is being made through Oakley Capital Fund V alongside chief executive Filippo Ceppellini, who founded the company […]
Blackstone, the US alternative assets group that won the bid battle for Warehouse REIT (WHR) in August, has struck a deal to take an 8.7% stake in rival bidder Tritax Big Box (BBOX). Confirming a Sky News report at the weekend, Tritax Big Box said it was buying a £1bn logistics portfolio from Blackstone in […]
Busy Blackstone has not only tied up a £1bn deal to invest in Tritax Big Box, it is also considering a cash offer for UK self-storage group Big Yellow, sending its shares sharply higher; RIT Capital Partners sees stake held by Rotshchild family foundation rise; and Vietnam Holding is to redeem 17.9% of its shares […]
Here’s an anomaly – a UK REIT trading at net asset value (NAV). Having endured a miserable three years of high interest rates and persistent inflation, there have been very few listed property companies whose shares have rated close to par in that time. Even fewer have traded at a premium and been able to […]
Manchester & London (MNL) fund manager Mark Sheppard has responded positively to a suggestion from QuotedData’s James Carthew that taking over another investment trust might be the solution for its problematic small free float. Sheppard and his company M&L Capital Management own 62% of the £331m closed-end fund which he has wholly committed to investments […]
Ashoka India Equity (AIE) is to pay its first dividend since launch seven years ago after shielding investors from the turmoil of US President Trump’s chaotic tariffs policy. Annual results yesterday showed the £470m investment trust emerged essentially unscathed from the turbulence caused by Trump eventually slapping a 25% tariff on India’s imports along with […]
Saba Capital has increased its position in Smithson (SSON) to 15% from the 14.1% the activist hedge fund revealed a month ago. It now holds over 16.4m voting rights in Terry Smith’s £1.7bn global smaller companies investment trust on a 9% discount. International Biotechnology Trust (IBT) and RTW Biotech Opportunities have benefited from another acquisition […]
Maven Renovar VCT (MRV), the former Amati AIM venture capital trust, has said it will not fund raise in the current financial year following shareholders’ failure to approve a change in the investment policy for Maven Capital Partners which it controversially appointed in May. In a revolt at the VCT’s decision to sack smaller companies […]
Saba Capital’s holding in Herald (HRI) has strayed further above the 30% threshold it passed in July. The activist hedge fund now owns just over 31% of Katie Potts’ £1.2bn global technology trust resulting from its unsuccessful attempt to oust the board at the start of the year. The increase from just over 30% is […]
The average real estate share price was flat in September, a welcome respite after a couple of bruising months of losses, although persistent inflation and high gilt yields continue to cloud the outlook. There were some big winners and losers in the month. Best performing funds in price terms (%) PRS REIT 11.5 Alternative […]
Activist hedge fund Saba Capital has intensified pressure on Gore Street Energy Storage (GSF) by taking a 5% stake in the international battery fund. Shares in the £293m investment company rose 1.7% to 59p on Wednesday afternoon, slightly narrowing their wide 44% discount to asset value, after Saba disclosed a holding of over 25.3m voting […]
Partners Group Private Equity (PEY) is to launch its first share buyback programme in over 11 years this month in response to its chronic 22% share price discount. Following the sales in July of PCI Pharma Services, its largest investment, and Techem, its seventh largest investment, the £740m investment company says distributions this year will […]
Infrastructure Capital, a New York boutique, has bypassed the buoyant market in London-listed debt funds to launch the first actively managed Dublin-based exchange traded fund (ETF) investing in US preferred shares. The Infrastructure Capital Preferred Income Ucits ETF has been listed by ETF provider HANetf on the London Stock Exchange under the PFFI ticker as […]
Henderson Smaller Companies (HSL), the £549m underperforming UK small-cap investment trust whose fund manager Neil Hermon retired last month after 23 years, has passed its triennial continuation vote. At the annual general meeting yesterday it gained the support of 95% of votes on turnout of 38.6%. Riverstone Energy (RSE) is to return £190m in a […]
Full-year results from PRS REIT (PRSR) underline the scale of the bargain pension asset manager Waypoint is getting with its £646.2m acquisition of the family home rental fund. In the year to 30 June, net asset value per share rose 7.4% to 143p from 133.2p, although the rate of growth slowed to 2.3% in the second […]
A weak dollar weighed on ICG Enterprise (ICGT) in the first half of its financial year but marketing efforts by the £949m private equity fund, combined with share buybacks and success in exiting investments during a sector downturn nonetheless produced a good result for shareholders. The investment trust, which invests in private equity funds run […]
LondonMetric Property (LMP) issues a half-year trading statement saying it expects to report a 14% increase in net rental income to £219m for the six months to 30 September following its acquisitions of Highcroft Investments and Urban Logistics this year. A further reduction in the EPRA cost ratio to 7.7% is also anticipated as the […]
Fidelity Emerging Markets (FEML) has notched up a third year of outperformance and its second year of positive returns with shares trading at an all-time high as the weak dollar drives investors back to its sector and the investment recovery reduces the impact of losses arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago. The […]
Half-year results from Baillie Gifford growth capital fund Schiehallion and Franklin Global; annual figures from Alternative Income REIT; shareholder approval for the merger of European Assets with European Smaller Companies Trust; plus updates from Sirius Real Estate, Marwyn Value Investors, Calculus VCT and Canadian General Investments. Schiehallion (MNTN), the £1.1bn Baillie Gifford growth capital fund […]
The £300m flotation of the Beauty Tech Group (TBTG) on Thursday not only cheered the London stock market after a dearth of listings, it has also boosted the three venture capital trusts (VCTs) run by Mercia Fund Management. From a 271p offer price, shares in TBTG rose 5% to 285p on Friday and have softened […]
The managed wind-down of Schroders Capital Global Innovation (INOV), the former Woodford Patient Capital Trust, has caught the attention of financier Hugh Osmond and the senior private equity team at Sun Capital Partners (SunCap). A stock market filing this week showed that Osmond, a veteran deal-maker who bought Pizza Express and helped consolidate the pub […]
In this slot four weeks ago, we wrote an introduction to active exchange traded funds (ETFs, which can be read here) and we are returning to the topic due to some interesting related news. The long-standing investment trust Middlefield Canadian Income (MCT) has announced its intention to convert to an actively managed ETF under the […]
The $15bn (£11bn) US flotation of Fermi (FRMI), a data centre real estate investment trust, has given the UK market a new REIT launch after three years in which the number of listed property funds has halved. Shares in the Texan company, which was co-founded by former US energy secretary and Texas governor Rick Perry […]
Baillie Gifford’s chief executive Tim Campbell explains the advantages of their active style of investing, the importance of long-termism and how AI fits into their process. Capital at risk.
