The argument between investments trusts and the City regulator over the Saba crisis has escalated with Glen Suarez, chair of Impax Environmental Markets (IEM), joining Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) in demanding the Financial Conduct Authority take their calls for intervention against the hostile US hedge fund seriously. Like EWI chair Jonathan Dent-Simpson, Suarez and the IEM […]

HICL Infrastructure (HICL) has been quick to make good on its promise last week to make further investments alongside increased share buybacks, announcing an additional £52m to its holding in Cross London Trains. The acquisition of a further 6.6% takes its total holding to 13.1% in the operator of the Thameslink electric train fleet and […]

BlackRock Latin American (BRLA), the last remaining UK investment trust dedicated to the South Americas, has raised the prospect of its demise after announcing plans to offer shareholders a 100% exit in 2030 if it does not beat its benchmark. The four-year conditional tender offer heaps pressure on fund managers Sam Vecht and Gordon Fraser […]

Herald (HRI), the £1.2bn global technology trust engaged in a high-stake battle with hostile shareholder Saba Capital, is working on a tax-efficient vehicle to enable shareholders to avoid crystallising massive capital gains tax bills if they sell in the upcoming “backstop” tender offer. Saba, a US hedge fund that has built a 31% stake and […]

Baillie Gifford has removed Stephen Paice and Chris Davies as managers of its underperforming European Growth (BGEU) investment trust as it attempts to hold on to the mandate and avoid the £281m listed fund having to offer a 100% exit to shareholders in two years’ time. Joe Faraday, a member of Baillie Gifford’s European equities […]

3i Group (III) plunged 17% yesterday to a 14-month low and a 24% discount after Action, the European discount retailer accounting for over two thirds of the FTSE 100 private equity fund’s assets, announced a €350m-€400m plan to launch in the US from next year. 3i has more than halved since October when Action first […]

Intesa Sanpaolo Group subsidiary Eurizon has launched the YAS Robotics Active UCITS ETF, which forms part of the firm’s new “YourActive” platform. Additional thematic active ETFs are expected to follow. The launch, first reported by ETF Stream, comes amid surging use of robotics worldwide. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) says global factories installed 542,000 […]

International Public Partnerships (INPP) has declared its 10th year of successive dividend increases, the longest record of rising pay-outs in the listed infrastructure fund sector which it said underlined the strength of its portfolio despite the pressure on its share price from higher bond yields.  A 2.15p final interim dividend brings the total for 2025 […]

India Capital Growth (IGC), the £93m fund focused on small and mid-cap Indian stocks, yesterday gained over 97% shareholder votes approving the introduction of a dividend and a reduction in the exit opportunities given to investors.  The investment company will now pay a semi-annual dividend starting at a level of around 2% of net asset […]

Henderson High Income (HHI), the only London-listed UK equity and bond income fund, has agreed a cut in the management fee it pays fund manager Janus Henderson as it strives to keep its costs in line with more numerous UK equity income rivals.  Backdated to 1 January, the 0.45% annual fee that was previously charged […]

SpaceX is to file a prospectus for an initial public offering with US regulators as early as this week, according to reports, with the Times saying this starts a countdown to a $1.5trn flotation that could see Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and AI group raise $75bn. Baillie Gifford trusts Scottish Mortgage Trust (SMT), Edinburgh Worldwide […]

CQS mining fund managers Keith Watson and Robert Crayfourd are to join Tufton, manager of tanker fleet operator Tufton Assets (SHIP). Tufton Investment Management said they would start later this year after completing their contractual obligations to Manulife CQS. The pair are serving three-month notices after stunning the market with their resignations earlier this month. […]

Literacy Capital (BOOK) is under pressure to revive its flagging share price after the UK private equity fund experienced its worse year of performance since listing in 2021. While net asset value (NAV) edged 0.3% higher to 484.3p in 2025, the share price slid 15.6% as economic uncertainty and a £41m write-down of its top […]

Last year was a good one for JPMorgan Claverhouse (JCH) with the £452m equity income trust outperforming the UK stock market and taking a big step towards restoring dividend earnings cover in the first full year under new fund managers. The 63-year-old investment company achieved a 27.6% total underlying investment return in 2025 on account […]

Sparkling half-year results from CQS Natural Resources Growth and Income (CYN) have again highlighted the poor timing of Saba Capital and other investors who sold out in the mining fund’s tender offer last July. On the back of a surge in precious metals, the investment company made an underlying investment return of 69.3% in the […]

Global multi-manager giant Alliance Witan (ALW) has negotiated a management fee cut from its fund manager Towers Watson. The current tiered annual management charge starting at 0.52% will be replaced in April by a single charge of 0.46% of the £4.5bn investment trust’s market value, falling to 0.41% in January. This follows publication of its […]

HICL Infrastructure (HICL) has looked to move beyond the embarrassment of its aborted merger attempt with Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) late last year by selling its 24% stake in the A63 Motorway in France for £311m. The price for HICL’s second largest holding at 8.4% of assets represents a 21% premium to book value, which […]

Chrysalis (CHRY) received 98% of shareholder votes at Wednesday’s EGM for the three-year wind-down proposed by the board. Chair Andrew Haining said: “The board will now implement an orderly realisation of the company’s assets, in a manner consistent with maximising the portfolio value over a three-year period.” BB Healthcare has changed its name and ticker […]

The real estate investment trust is sector is hopping with M&A excitement this afternoon as AEW UK REIT (AEWU) makes a move on Alternative Income REIT (AIRE) and LondonMetric Property (LMP) and Schroder Real Estate (SREI) collaborate in a potential carve-up of Picton Property Income (PCTN). Alternative Income, a £60m long lease fund, one of […]

In November, we covered the first European active ETF launches by Dimensional Fund Advisors (click here to read more), a significant player in the US market. These funds have achieved rapid success in terms of gathering assets, currently standing at $994m in the case of the Global Core Equity UCITS ETF and $150m for the […]

Efforts by Global Opportunities Trust (GOT) to raise its profile paid off last year as the defensively managed, flexible investment fund delivered a 21.9% total return to shareholders. Much of this came from the shares narrowing their gap – or discount – to the portfolio’s net asset value from 23.5% to 16.1% as increased marketing […]

BioPharma Credit (BPCR), the £1bn high-yielding lender to US drugs companies, is confident of redeploying its large cash pile as a recovery in mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical sector provides new investment opportunities. Collegium Pharmaceutical’s repayment of a $261.4m loan in December, having achieved its first syndicated credit facility with mainstream banks on lower […]

Oryx International Growth (OIG) has announced “with great sadness” the death of its chairman Nigel Cayzer. Cayzer, 71, was a former chair of Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies, now Aberdeen Asia Focus (AAS), and served as a non-executive director on Caledonia Investments (CLDN) in the 1980s. The board of the £256m UK smaller companies trust managed […]

The chair of Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) has hit out at the Financial Conduct Authority after one of its senior officials said the regulator should not be expected to “pick sides” in investment trusts’ battles with activist hedge fund Saba. Jonathan Simpson-Dent (pictured) said smaller investors needed “meaningful protection” after Simon Walls, interim executive director for […]

CQS Natural Resources Growth and Income (CYN) has followed Golden Prospect Precious Metals (GPM) and Geiger Counter (GCL) in serving protective notice against its investment manager Manulife CQS after the resignations last month of Keith Watson and Robert Crayfourd. CYN, at £126m the largest of the three investment companies run by the mining specialists, has […]

Partners Group Private Equity (PEY) is under pressure to return more capital to shareholders after a disappointing 2025 saw its portfolio fall 8.7% to €891.5m (£773m). Most of the net asset value (NAV) decline, 5.7%, was due to the weak dollar but “value creation” was just 0.7% with a number of companies facing “idiosyncratic challenges”. […]

European markets have rebounded after US President Trump postponed strikes on Iran’s power plants saying the US had held “productive discussions” about a halt to the aerial war it launched with Israel on 28 February. From an intra-day low of 9,672 at 10.50am, the FTSE 100 rallied 2.8% to 9,943 at 12.45pm as stocks, including […]

US Global Investors Travel UCITS ETF has fallen sharply in recent weeks, as the war in Iran has triggered a broad and severe sell-off across global travel equities, particularly airlines, which sit at the core of the portfolio. The fund is down 11.09% over one month, leaving it 10.35% lower year-to-date. The speed of the […]