Shareholders in Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) have overwhelmingly approved its proposed exit tender offer with 99.97% of those voting at the general meeting today in favour of the proposal, which will now go ahead. The turnout was surprisingly low for such an important question, with just 46.1% of IEM’s shares voted. That suggests to us […]
Schroder Japan (SJG), the best performer in its sector over one and ten years, has announced a cut in the annual management fee it pays Schroders. From August the £382m investment trust will pay 0.7% of its first £200m of assets, down from 0.75%, and 0.65% above that. More importantly, the fee will be applied […]
Mark Mobius, the founder and former fund manager of Templeton Emerging Markets (TEM) investment trust, has died in Singapore, age 89. Mobius Capital Partners, the firm he co-founded in 2018 after leaving Franklin Templeton, said he was a “cherished mentor, partner and source of inspiration to all of us”. Mobius joined Franklin Templeton in 1987 […]
Ecofin US Renewable Infrastructure (RNEW), an £18m investment trust in the third year of its wind-down, has warned its two largest shareholders against making further purchases in its stock or risk the fund losing tax breaks, including shelter from capital gains tax. In a market announcement this afternoon, RNEW’s chair, restructuring expert Brett Miller, said […]
Henderson Far East Income (HFEL), the highest-yielding trust in the Asia Pacific Equity Income sector, has reported a strong first half to its financial year with a 23.3% underlying return in the six months to 28 February driven by technology, materials and energy stocks. However, it lagged the 26.2% gain in the MSCI AC Asia […]
AVI Global Trust (AGT) says its net asset value (NAV) fell by 9.8% in March with its 26% and 17% allocations to Japan and South Korea bearing the brunt of the market turmoil sparked by the US-led war on Iran and the subsequent surge in oil prices. While the bargain-hunting value investor said its portfolio […]
Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT) fund manager has bought another £45,500 of shares to lift his total to over 5.8m, or just under 5.4% of the £811m UK equity income investment trust. Train, who has managed the 100-year-old listed fund since 2000, bought 6,086 shares at an average price of 747.6p to take his total […]
Eurizon Capital has followed up its launch of the YAS Robotics Active UCITS ETF with a high conviction fund seeking the best large-cap emerging markets equities in the world. The CO Eurizon SLJ EM Equity Magnificent 30 UCITS ETF listed in London and Dublin this month. Managed by Stephen Jen and Fatih Yilmaz, the founders […]
Northern Trust Asset Management is reportedly preparing to re-enter Europe’s ETF market, marking a notable return for a group that only recently pulled back from the sector. According to recent reports, the firm is reassessing its European ETF strategy and is weighing whether to convert existing active funds into ETFs as it looks to tap […]
HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE), the £2.1bn private equity fund investor under pressure from activists Asset Value Investors and Saba, has agreed to hold a $400m (£296m) tender offer in the autumn to secure support for its first continuation vote in July. The proposed tender offer is bigger than the landmark £150m tender made by […]
Ruffer Investment Company (RICA) fund managers pounced on five-year UK government bonds last month, lifting their allocation to 15% as exaggerated fears of interest rate rises in response to the inflationary impact of higher oil prices from the war in the Middle East caused a sell-off in gilts that left their yields “inappropriately high”. Ruffer […]
European ETF inflows sharply lost momentum in March, but active ETFs emerged from the month in a stronger relative position. Morningstar data shows European ETFs and ETCs gathered €9.4bn in the month, down from an average of around €46bn in each of the first two months of the year, as investors turned more cautious amid […]
(Update of first published on 10 April) Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) has called on shareholders to “vote in record numbers” to defend the investment trust’s board for a third time at the annual general meeting on 30 April after activist hedge fund Saba blocked an attempt to give them an exit. At a general meeting on […]
The fund managers of Golden Prospect Precious Metals (GPM), last year’s best-performing investment company, are confident gold will restore its shine after slumping 11% last month as they believe much higher oil prices and inflation are likely as a result of the war in the Middle East. Mining investors Keith Watson and Robert Crayfourd, who […]
Seraphim Space (SSIT) is considering a C-share issue in response to investor demand that has pushed its ordinary shares to a 25% premium above net asset value after a 278% surge in the past year. That performance, and a 72.3% total return over three years, are currently the best of any UK listed investment company. […]
Aquila Energy Efficiency (AEET), the £37m renewable energy fund approaching the fourth year of its wind-down, has terminated the management contract of Aquila Capital with no payment in lieu but will retain fund managers Alex Betts and Franco Hauri as consultants as the now self-managed company looks to dispose of the rest of its assets. Betts […]
We now have the first few episodes of our new weekly livestream, Active ETF Intelligence (live every Wednesday at 11am), under our belts. It therefore feels like an appropriate moment to take stock of what we have covered so far and reflect on where the conversations might head next. News – new launches dominate, as […]
Shares in Impax Asset Management (IPX) plunged 25% today after investors reacted to further outflows from the sustainable investment group worsened by the impending loss of Impax Environmental Markets (IEM). IPX dropped 31.4p to 94.2p, close to a nine-year low, on news that just over £2bn had been withdrawn from Impax funds in the first quarter […]
Pictet Asset Management is preparing to launch five AI-enhanced active UCITS ETFs in Europe, marking the Swiss group’s first move into the region’s ETF market. The funds will be domiciled in Ireland and will cover US, world, emerging markets, Europe and world ex-US equities under the tickers PQUS, PQWD, PQEM, PQEU and PQWX, respectively. Pictet […]
Mercantile (MRC), JPMorgan’s £1.7bn UK “mid-cap” investment trust, underperformed in the year to 31 January as the portfolio missed out on most of the takeover bids made for undervalued British companies below the FTSE 100. Fund managers Guy Anderson and Anthony Lynch said the UK market “experienced a flurry of incoming takeover activity” with more […]
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund (GRID) will not hit its £150m earnings target by the end of next year after the National Electricity System Operator (NESO) announced 2029 energisation dates for two of the five projects in its three-year recovery plan. The connection offers of July 2029 for Lister Drive, a 57MW battery energy storage […]
The Financial Reporting Council has begun an investigation into the audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers of the 2023 results of Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9). DGI9 became a notorious case of over-valuation after its net asset value was more than halved in 2024 by a new board and InfraRed Capital Partners, which replaced Triple Point as fund manager […]
UzNIF, the $2.4bn National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan managed by Franklin Templeton, has declared its intention to float on the London and Tashkent stock exchanges. Marius Dan, CEO, Central Asia at Templeton Global Investments, said the proposed initial public offer (IPO) was “a defining moment” for Uzbekistan’s capital markets. “UzNIF has a strong and diversified portfolio of […]
This is an exclusive interview with Glen Suarez, chair of Impax Environmental Markets (IEM), to discuss the urgent situation facing shareholders as the investment trust seeks to avoid being taken over by Saba Capital, the activist hedge fund holding 22% of the shares. The main purpose of the interview was to highlight tomorrow’s deadline of […]
Dunedin Income Growth (DIG) is watering down its sustainability agenda to enable it to invest in arms companies, nuclear energy providers and miners after a further year of underperformance by the £354m Aberdeen-managed UK equity income trust. Annual results show fund managers Ben Ritchie and Rebecca Maclean generated what chair Howard Williams said was a […]
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) is to start a managed wind-down after failing to get shareholder support to turn the £469m investment trust into an energy services operating company. Tired of a 51% share price discount, investors wanted their money back, said chair Tony Roper. Roper, who in 2019 stated an ambition to make SEIT […]
Tufton Assets (SHIP), the 8.5%-yielding ship investor, says a leading commodities trader has renewed charters on two tankers at 47% higher rates, increasing expected net income by $2.5m per vessel and lifting their annualised yields to 26%. The rates were agreed before war broke out in the Middle East. Riverstone Energy (RSE) will return £30m […]
The announcement of a fragile two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran caused a sharp rebound in many investment company shares yesterday with Manchester and London (MNL) shooting up 13.5%. A 104p rally to 874p pushed the £332m technology fund above its level before the outbreak of war at the end of February with a […]
Schiehallion (MNTN), the £1.7bn Baillie Gifford private equity fund mulling over a possible share issue, has reported on a “defining” year of progress. Annual results show the closed-end fund delivered an underlying return of 32.6% in the year to 31 January with shareholders enjoying a 64.8% total return as the company re-rated from a steep […]
Nippon Active Value (NAVF), the best-performing Japan investment trust over five years, posted a 17.4% sterling return in 2025 as the country’s stock market enjoyed a third year of strong growth. The £440m smaller company activist was unable to keep up with the broad Nikkei 225 index which rose 26% on the back of the […]
