First-quarter active ETF performance suggests 2026 may be a year of rotation rather than momentum. Investors did not indiscriminately reward active risk-taking, but instead favoured exposure to regions and sectors where valuations were more reasonable, the policy backdrop was improving and market participation became broader. Europe, Japan and emerging markets all fitted that description better […]
March was a tough month for investors as the UK stock market dropped 7% and globally share prices retreated 5% with equities in Japan, Asia and emerging markets sliding 10-12% at the shock of oil prices soaring 63% to more than $118 a barrel in response to the US and Israel’s war on Iran. A […]
After a four-year drought, IPO talk is back. But a public listing does not mark the end of an investment journey – it is simply a change in venue. Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust backs exceptional growth companies, including six of the world’s ten most valuable private businesses. What matters is scale, ambition and execution. A […]
Update: Baillie Gifford has hiked its valuation of SpaceX for the second time in four months amid reports that the Elon Musk rocket and satellite group has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US that could value it at up to $1.75trn (£1.3trn), up from the $800bn it doubled at the end […]
Baillie Gifford Japan (BGFD) severely underperformed in its half-year results to 28 February with a 4.4% underlying total investment return compared to the 22.4% advance in the TOPIX index. Shareholders saw a 6.1% total return as the shares narrowed the gap, or discount, to net asset value (NAV) from 11.4% to 10.1%. Sam Davis, the […]
Covid, Ukraine, interest rates, tariffs, Iran. Sadly, geopolitical and macroeconomic shocks have become the norm, and uncertainty has become one of the few constants. For sectors that crave a stable outlook, the past six years have resembled a botched rollercoaster, with many scary drops and few reassuring climbs. That has certainly been the case with […]
Biotech Growth (BIOG) and RTW Biotech Opportunities (RTW) have both benefited from Biogen’s announcement of a $5.6bn cash acquisition of Apellis Pharmaceuticals at $41 per share yesterday, which represented a 140% premium to Monday’s closing price. They held 1.7% and 1.1% respectively in the rare kidney and retinal diseases specialist. RTW also saw Eli Lilly […]
Update: Saba Capital has told Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) shareholders for the first time that it wants to replace Baillie Gifford as fund manager in a letter to shareholders outlining the exit opportunities it would support if it wins control of the £736m global equities trust at next month’s annual general meeting. Saba said: “In the […]
Pantheon Infrastructure (PINT) has passed an important milestone with the maturing portfolio supporting a covered dividend for the first time since launch in 2021. In annual results the £494m investment trust said net cash flows, not including £31.4m of investment sales, jumped 77% to £22.5m last year from £12.8m to cover the 4%-yielder’s dividends by […]
Schroders Capital Global Innovation (INOV), the former Woodford Patient Capital Trust, plans a second return of capital in its managed wind-down, saying it will hold an £18m tender offer in June. This follows the sale of London-based Bluewater Bio in January and a £37m return of capital last July. Annual results show the now £89m […]
Saba Capital has doubled its stake to 10% in Pantheon International (PIN), the £1.6bn private equity fund on a 31% discount where activists AVI and Metage also hold positions. Sirius Real Estate (SRE) has bolstered its defence exposure with the €93.4m acquisition of a business park in Kiel, Germany, predominantly let to Rheinmetall, the country’s […]
Stefan Gries, head of European equities at BlackRock, has left the group and ended his fund management career to “focus on personal health issues”, according to BlackRock Greater Europe (BRGE). Gries had managed the £475m investment trust since June 2017 but had seen its performance wane after the 2022 growth crash. He is replaced by […]
Half-year results from two of the three Asia smaller company investment trusts shows their managers at Aberdeen and Fidelity becoming more concerned about valuations, so the recent sell-off in response to the Iran war could be helpful so long as the conflict does not drag on. Aberdeen Asia Focus (AAS), a £523m trust managed by […]
A “standout” 2025 propelled by a resurgence in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has put RTW Biotech Opportunities (RTW) in a bullish mood about prospects for further returns. Fund manager Roderick Wong said biotechnology was “entering a new phase of maturity” with scientific breakthroughs enabling the emergence of a new cadre of profitable $50bn market leaders. […]
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 […]
A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Nicholas Weindling, manager of JPMorgan Japanese (JFJ) as part of our ‘meet the manager’ podcast series (you can listen here). Our chat proved to be very timely as just three months into the job, Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s new and first ever female […]
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 […]
