The Financial Conduct Authority has launched legal action against Neil Woodford and the former fund manager’s subscription-based platform W4.0. The FCA alleges that Woodford and W4.0, the trading name of W Four Point Zero FZE LLC registered in the United Arab Emirates, are providing unauthorised regulated investment advice and financial promotions. The City regulator believes this breaches sections 19 and 21 […]
US Solar Fund (USF) took a surprise lead last month, emerging as the investment companies sector’s top riser in May after revealing talks to sell its portfolio to an unidentified buyer. News of the potential sale at a “significant premium” saw shares in the £113m investment trust managed by Amber Infrastructure soar 33% (see table). […]
Baillie Gifford has launched its first active ETF range in the US, marking a notable inversion of the usual direction of travel in the active ETF market. While much of the recent activity in Europe has involved large US managers exporting active ETF strategies and infrastructure across the Atlantic, Baillie Gifford’s move goes the other […]
Seraphim Space (SSIT) will join the FTSE 250 on 19 June after a 39% share price rise this year and last month’s £127m C-share issue lifted the market value of the world’s first listed SpaceTech fund to £698m at Friday’s close. Chair Will Whitehorn said elevation to the “mid-cap” index was a “significant milestone” and […]
This week, I attended a capital markets event at the London Stock Exchange to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET). For those less familiar with it, PPET aims to deliver long-term total returns by giving shareholders access to a diversified portfolio of private equity-backed companies, most of which are focused on […]
Discover how biotech company Enveda is using AI to unlock ingredients in plant life and develop a new generation of blockbuster drugs. Founder Viswa Colluru joins Scottish Mortgage manager Tom Slater to discuss the company’s ambitious vision and trillion-dollar opportunity. Capital at risk.
Baillie Gifford investment trusts have raised their valuation of SpaceX for a third time in six months with its flagship Scottish Mortgage (SMT) now holding a highly concentrated 21% position in the Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence (AI) group seeking a record $1.78tn (£1.3trn) flotation next week. Scottish Mortgage Trust and stablemates Schiehallion […]
Capital Gearing Trust (CGT), the £810m wealth preservation fund and investment company activist, is turning its attention to its largest equity holding, North Atlantic Smaller Companies (NAS), after a prolonged period of poor performance. CGT, whose lead manager Peter Spiller has been a long-term holder of NAS and supporter of its fund manager and chief […]
Real estate big hitters were among the best performers in May, regaining more of the losses sustained over the past few months of uncertainty. Best performers in price terms (%) Unite Group 11.4 Ground Rents Income Fund 7.4 Land Securities 6.4 Hammerson 4.7 British Land 4.7 Macau Property Opportunities 4.7 Target Healthcare REIT 4.6 […]
JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income (JAGI) outperformed in the six months to 31 March with a 7.1% investment return beating the 5.2% advance in the MSCI Asia ex Japan index. Shareholders in the 4.6%-yielder did even better with a 12% return as the shares’ discount to net asset value narrowed from 8.7% to 4.8%. The […]
Active ETFs delivered a broadly positive month in May, with almost the entire universe in positive territory, according to QuotedData’s monthly performance screen. Of the 357 share classes analysed, 352 rose over the month, with only five recording negative returns. The strongest gains were concentrated in higher-beta thematic equity strategies, particularly those exposed to AI, […]
The new Saba-backed board of Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) has confirmed its intention to offer shareholders an exit through a tender offer once SpaceX has floated this month, but its statement to the stock exchange has failed to dispel concerns over its lack of independence from the activist hedge fund widely thought to want to replace […]
Private equity fund manager Hg has committed to increasing its stake in HgCapital Trust (HGT) from 6% to 15% in the “medium term” after the £1.8bn investment trust, which invests in its funds, tumbled to a 25% discount after this year’s AI scare for software stocks. In a statement before a capital markets event in […]
Zurich-listed Partners Group plunged 16% after reports that it had capped investor withdrawals from its flagship $8.6bn Global Value open-ended private equity fund. Shares in US private equity groups such as KKR and Blackstone also fell as the move stoked fears over private market valuations. Partners Group Private Equity (PEY), the £623m London-listed investment company […]
Templeton Emerging Markets (TEM) has congratulated fund managers Chetan Sehgal and Andrew Ness after the Franklin Templeton pair delivered a 41.3% total investment return for the year to 31 March. The “unusually strong” underlying performance saw the Asia-weighted portfolio recover from the shock of US President Trump’s tariffs in April last year to beat the […]
Biotech Growth (BIOG) fund managers Geoff Hsu and Josh Golomb were vindicated in their backing of smaller drug developers in the US and around the world today as the £245m investment trust reported a stunning 73.4% investment return for the year to 31 March. Chair Roger Yates said while the Orbimed duo’s conviction that mid […]
Shares in NextEnergy Solar (NESF), the £279m renewables fund that disappointed investors with a dividend cut in March, fell again today after the company revealed a 10.4% fall in net asset value (NAV) in the fourth quarter of its financial year. The worse-than-expected decline in the three months to 31 March saw NAV per share […]
Seraphim Space (SSIT) is deploying the £137m raised in last month’s C-share issue at one of the “most exciting times” for space technology as SpaceX’s imminent $1.75tn flotation sparks huge investor interest in the sector. Unveiling a 30.7% advance in the portfolio in the first quarter of 2026 (the third in its financial year), chair […]
Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure (EGL) has shaken off turbulence from the Iran war with its shares trading in line with its investments for the first time in three years. Half-year results to 31 March show the £250m investment trust has eradicated the discount to net asset value (NAV) at which it has stood since […]
Morningstar has warned SpaceX is “significantly overvalued” and estimated its fair value at $780bn, less than half the $1.75tn-$1.8tn target in next month’s flotation. In their report, analysts Nicolas Owens and Suryansh Sharma cited regulatory and technical hurdles and also untested AI economics for their cautious assessment. Seeking to puncture some of the hype in […]
The global active ETF market has continued its rapid expansion, underlining the growing relevance of the structure for European investors and asset managers. According to ETFGI’s latest report, global assets invested in actively managed ETFs reached a record US$2.33tn at the end of April, as the sector attracted US$67.02bn of net inflows during the month. […]
Shareholders in Herald (HRI) investment trust have until 26 June to vote on the make-or-break tender offer announced by the £1.4bn technology fund last month. Herald has published a circular setting out the timetable for the offer for shareholders to sell up to two thirds of its shares back to the company if they wish. […]
NB Private Equity Partners (NBPE) has doubled its share buyback programme to $240m (£178m) as the £612m co-investor in unquoted companies intensifies efforts to narrow its wide discount and improve shareholder returns. The Guernsey investment company, which with the help of New York-based Neuberger invests directly in companies alongside leading private equity managers, yesterday said […]
DL Invest, the Polish logistics group that failed to stop the wind-down of Abrdn European Logistics Income (ASLI) in February, voted down two resolutions at the real estate investment trust’s AGM yesterday. Special resolutions nine and 10 permitting ASLI to buy back its shares and call general meetings on not less than 14 days’ notice […]
Shares in Bluefield Solar Income (BSIF) jumped up to 16% this morning after the high-yielding renewables fund accepted a £548m cash bid from biomass generator Drax (DRX), six months after putting itself up for sale. Drax beat a shortlist of bidders after agreeing to pay 92.574p per share. Including a 2.25p interim dividend due this […]
Universal Music Group (UMG) has rejected the $64.3bn (£48bn) takeover offer made by Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management two months ago. The US-focused but Euronext Amsterdam listed business said on Friday evening that Pershing Square’s proposed merger with its New York listed special purpose vehicle SPARC Holdings was “not in the best interests” of […]
Franklin Templeton has expanded its European active ETF range with the launch of the Franklin US Income Equity Focus UCITS ETF, an actively managed US equity income strategy listed on the London Stock Exchange. The fund has a total expense ratio of 0.35% and targets income and capital growth through a portfolio of US large-cap […]
There are some words in financial services – from “guaranteed” to “uncorrelated” – that should set alarm bells ringing. Historically, “rebate” has been one of them. Anyone who remembers the pre-Retail Distribution Review world of fund supermarkets, platform payments and distribution incentives could be forgiven for assuming that the investment industry had broadly learned its […]
European Opportunities Trust (EOT) is to wind up and give shareholders a choice of rolling into a new open-ended Liontrust fund run by manager Alexander Darwall or switch into the top-performing JPMorgan European Growth & Income (JEGI) if they wish to remain in an investment trust. There will also be a full cash exit at […]
CT UK High Income (CHI), the £132m UK equity income trust run by David Moss at Columbia Threadneedle, delivered a total underlying investment return of 18.3% in the year to 31 March, behind the 21.5% of the FTSE All-Share index. Ordinary shareholders received 15.3% and B-share holders, who receive capital payments instead of dividends, got […]
