VietNam Holding announces significant changes – VietNam Holding (VNH) has announced that it is changing its investment agreement with its existing investment manager and will increase its size by acquiring the assets of another Vietnamese listed equity fund. The company has also intends that it is to seek shareholder approval to maintain its share buy-back programme. Investment […]
Residential Secure Income REIT acquires 277 property portfolio – Residential Secure Income REIT (RESI) is invested in residential asset classes that comprise the stock of UK social housing providers (mainly Housing Associations and Local Authorities) in order to provide secure, long-dated, inflation-linked income returns with the potential for capital growth and with low sensitivity to residential house […]
Change in investment management team at JPMorgan Global Convertibles Income – Robin Dunmall, one of JPMorgan Global Convertibles Income‘s portfolio managers, has decided to leave JPMorgan Asset Management to pursue other opportunities. The company’s portfolio will continue to be managed by the existing investment management team, which is led by Natalia Bucci and includes Paul Levene. […]
Proposed changes at Artemis Alpha – In the run-up to the continuation resolution due to be proposed at the company’s AGM to be held in October 2018, the board of Artemis Alpha Trust (ATS) had undertaken a strategic review. From the review, a number of proposals have been made, some of which will be voted upon […]
Land Securities reports on “an active and successful year” – In it’s annual report for the twelve months to 31 March 2018, Land Securities (LAND) reported a year of positive performance in its core activities, offset by the cost of refinancing the company’s bonds. During the year, the company completed and let major development projects at Nova, SW1 […]
Investment Trust Insider on Ranger Direct Lending James Carthew: Ranger board must give investors an exit A right royal row is underway about the future of Ranger Direct Lending (RDL). Letters are flying back and forth and PR companies are working overtime but Ranger’s shares continue to languish on the widest discount of any fund […]
Investment Trust Insider on Ecofin and Premier utilities and infrastructure funds James Carthew: knee-jerk rejection of utilities is wrong The lines between utilities and infrastructure have been blurred somewhat. The two investment companies that sit in the utilities sector, Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure (EGL) and Premier Global Infrastructure (PGIT), have (as their names suggest) […]
Investment Tust Insider on Latin America James Carthew: Latin volatility requires a long-term view Latin America has done surprisingly well since I last looked at BlackRock Latin American (BRLA) and Aberdeen Latin American Income (ALAI) two-and-a-half years ago. Its markets were very much out of favour as sabre rattling by Maduro in Venezuela, falling commodities […]
Investment Trust Insider on Seneca Global Income & Growth James Carthew: this trust swerved Conviviality crash The collapse of stock market darling, Conviviality (CVRC), has caught a few people by surprise. Quite a few UK small cap managers benefited from Conviviality’s rise. It came to the market in an initial public offering in 2013 at £1 […]
British Land submits planning application for Canada Water –British Land has entered into a Master Development Agreement with Southwark Council and submitted an outline planning application for the Canada Water Masterplan. Alongside the overall Masterplan the planning submission also includes a detailed planning application for the project’s first three buildings, which include workspace, homes (of […]
Scottish Mortgage took in £145m – Scottish Mortgage returned 25% in NAV terms over the year to 31 March 2018 and 21.6% in share price terms. These figures dwarf the return from the company’s benchmark, the All-World Index, which returned just 2.9% over the same period. The board is recommending a total distribution for the year of […]
Hg buys Financial Express and sells JLA – Hg, the manager of HgCapital Trust plc, has announced an investment in Financial Express, a leading data, analytics and software vendor focussed on the European retail investment funds market. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. HgCapital Trust plc will invest approximately GBP7.5 million in FE, with […]
Pershing Square says $300m tender is complete – Pershing Square Holdings has announced that the tender offer, for up to $300 million in value of its public shares, closed at 1:00 p.m. BST on 10 May 2018. The strike price for the tender offer was $13.47 per public share. A total of 22,271,714 public shares were acquired […]
Good year for North Atlantic Smaller Companies despite high liquidity – North Atlantic Smaller Companies says that, for the year ended 31 January 2018, its net asset value rose by 16.5%, to an all-time high of 3,458p. This compares with a rise in the sterling adjusted Standard & Poor’s Composite Index of 9.8%. There is no […]
VinaLand sells Pavilion Square project – VinaLand Limited has sold its entire stake in the Pavilion Square project. The project, located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and acquired by VinaLand in 2007, is designated for a future mixed-use development. VinaLand has sold its entire stake in the project to RC12 Investment Joint Stock Company […]
Stronger sterling depresses Harbourvest’s returns – HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited has reported 16.2% NAV growth to $21.46 from $18.47 over the year to 31 January 2018. 55% of HVPE’s assets consist directly of US investments and a further 23% of assets are denominated in US dollars. In the year to 31 January 2018, sterling […]
3i Infrastructure’s ‘outstanding’ year – 3i Infrastructure has announced a 28.6% return for the year ended 31 march 2018 and a 10% increase in the target dividend for FY19 to 8.65 pence per share. Richard Laing, its chairman, said: “The company had an outstanding year. The realisations of our holdings in Elenia and Anglian Water Group generated […]
Prothena drags WPCT to bottom of performance league table in April The fall in the value of its large investment in Prothena on negative results from two late-stage trials last month had a predictable effect on Woodford Patient Capital (WPCT)’s performance among the biotech-specialist closed end funds this year, although its relative underperformance extends over […]
HBM set to gain on Lilly buyout of investee Armo Swiss-listed HBM Healthcare (HBMN) looks set to see a significant boost to its already strong investment performance this year as a result of a deal that will see Eli Lilly buy one of its investee companies, the US biotech ARMO Biosciences. Lilly’s agreed deal to […]
Life Settlement Assets announces three ‘maturities’ – Life Settlement Assets has made the following announcement: “The company has received notification of three policy maturities on two lives with a face value of USD1,784,882.18 for the benefit of the B share class (LSAB). These maturities reflect the lumpy nature of returns from the portfolio and are […]
Shaftesbury makes a strategic acquisition in Carnaby – Shaftesbury (SHB) the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) has exchanged contracts to acquire the freehold of 35 and 36 Great Marlborough Street, Carnaby for £22.7 million. Located at the northern gateway in to Carnaby, the buildings comprise two shops (3,000 sq. ft.) with 4,250 sq. ft. of office accommodation on the […]
HgCapital invests in medical software provider MediFox – HgCapital (HGT) has announced an investment in MediFox, a provider of software solutions to outpatient and inpatient care providers and therapy practices in Germany. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The investment for £8.0m follows an exit from private equity funds managed by Equity Capital […]
Civitas share price boosted as it sorts potential First Priority problem – Civitas Social Housing has announced that today, 9 May 2018, all Civitas leases previously with First Priority were assigned, on the same terms to Falcon Housing Association C.I.C, an existing Civitas housing association partner. Civitas’ share price is up 2% on the news. In addition, […]
Puretech digital health venture raises $55m LSE-listed healthcare venture firm Puretech Health (PRTC)’s digital health offshoot, Akili Interactive, has raised $55m in a series C financing. The move comes ahead of its planned FDA filing for a tablet-based video game for the treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This product, AKL-T01, would – if approved – become one […]
Blue Capital Alternative Income throws in towel – At Blue Capital Alternative Income’s AGM, which was held on 8 May 2018, shareholders voted 78.2m shares in favour of continuation and 68.8m shares against. Despite winning the vote, the board intends to recommend an orderly run-off of the company. This will be voted on at a special general […]
Benchmark-beating performance by Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies – Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust (IPU) issued its annual financial report for the year ended 31 January 2018. Performance The NAV of the company rose by 23.9%, on a total return basis. In so doing, it outperformed the benchmark index of the company by 8.8%. The […]
Savills acquires British Land’s third-party property management portfolio – in a joint press release published on their websites British Land (BLND) have announced that it has sold its third-party property management portfolio within its property management business, Broadgate Estates to Savills, the international real estate adviser. Approximately 160 Broadgate Estates employees are expected to transfer […]
Greencoat UK Wind to up its Clyde wind farm stake – Greencoat UK Wind says that it intends to exercise its option to increase its shareholding in the Clyde wind farms to 28.2%. This will cost it GBP114.2 million and, therefore Greencoat intends to raise up to GBP118.8 million through a placing of new ordinary shares by way of a […]
CATCo takes another big write down on 2017 NAV – Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd., is to increase the specific loss reserves held by CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities in relation to the ordinary shares for loss events in 2017. The impact of the increase is estimated to be approximately 19.5% of the 31 March 2018 ordinary share NAV. This represents […]
New Oaktree letter as Ranger dispute rumbles on – The full text of the letter is as follows: May 4, 2018 Dear shareholders of Ranger Direct Lending PLC (“Ranger,” the “Company” or “RDL”), We write to express our deep disappointment with recent actions by Ranger’s Board of Directors (the “Board”), culminating in the RNS announcement […]
