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Investment Companies News

Investment companies are companies set up to make investments on behalf of their shareholders (also called closed-end funds and, in specific circumstances, investment trusts).

31 Mar 2015

Alliance vs. Elliott – closing arguments

First – Karin Forseke (Alliance Trust’s Chairman)’s message to shareholders in the circular convening the meeting: “Dear Shareholder,  Who are Elliott and what do they really want?  Our Company has been requisitioned by Elliott Advisors (UK) Ltd. to appoint three additional directors to the Board of Alliance Trust. Your Board believes this is just the […]

Sectors
Companies
30 Mar 2015

Summit Germany refinances manager loan

Summit Germany has refinanced 9 of the 11 properties in its portfolio that were acquired in April 2014 with a €33m loan from a German bank. With this deal done, they are able to repay the debt lent to them by Summit Israel (the parent company). The new loan comes at an interest rate of 1.96% […]

Sectors
30 Mar 2015

Aberdeen Asian Smaller hit by widening discount

Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies has announced interim figures covering the six months ended on 31 January 2015. The total return on net assets was 5.9% in the six months to 31 January 2015. By comparison, the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index and MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Small Cap Index total returns […]

Sectors
30 Mar 2015

Vietnam Infrastructure restructuring delayed

Vietnam Infrastructure’s interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2014 have just been published. Over that period the fund’s net asset value fell from 61 cents a share to 60 cents. Towards the end of the period, shareholders approved plans to restructure the fund but the regulatory approval of this has been delayed […]

30 Mar 2015

Empiric buys in Leeds

Empiric Student Property has announced the acquisition of St Mark’s Court in Leeds. This property, which was completed in 2009, is a high-quality, modern purpose-built student accommodation scheme comprising 85 large self-contained studios with communal facilities and secure parking spaces.  Empiric’s Board believes that there is scope to extract further value through asset management, including a […]

Sectors
30 Mar 2015

Camper & Nicholsons to redevelop Victoria Quay

Camper & Nicholsons Marinas Limited, has signed an agreement with its landside partner, Westcourt Real Estate (Europe) Ltd and the Homes and Communities Agency to permit the development of Victoria Quay, a landside and seaside development which includes a new 400 berth marina, at East Cowes, Isle of Wight. The agreement is subject to the satisfaction […]

30 Mar 2015

Starwood reports on busy 2014

Starwood European Real Estate Finance has announced results for the year ended 31 December 2014 that show a small increase in its net asset value from 99.13p to 100.08p but a much larger increase in its share price from 100.75p to 106.25p. Dividends per share were 5.8p, to give a total return on net assets […]

Sectors
30 Mar 2015

GLI raises stake in Trade River Finance

GLI Finance has increased its stake in Trade River Finance from 9% to 43.9% and taken its interest in Trade River’s preference shares up to 100% by offering to swap shares in Trade River for shares and zeros issued by GLI Finance. A number of shareholders took up the offer and 6.2m new GLI shares have […]

30 Mar 2015

BlackRock Emerging Europe gets its Russian call right

BlackRock Emerging Europe’s results for the year ended 31 January 2015 show the impact of sanctions and the oil price fall on the Russian economy. The fund’s net asset value fell by 12.7% in total return terms. this better though that the equivalent 17.8% fall in the MSCI Emerging Europe 10-40 Index. A widening of […]

Sectors
30 Mar 2015

Pacific Assets reports on profitable 2014

Final results for Pacific Assets were released on Friday. Over the year to the end of January 2015 the fund generated a return on net assets of 32.6% and a return to shareholders of 37% both well ahead of the 24.1% return on the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index. The dividend was maintained […]

Sectors
30 Mar 2015

Mercantile to smooth dividend payments

Mercantile results for the year ended 31 January 2015 have been published. These show that the fund marginally underperformed the Company’s benchmark with a return of 4.4% against 4.6% for the benchmark. Share price total return was -0.7%. The dividend was increased by a penny to 41p on revenues that fell from 47.5p to 42.1p. the […]

Sectors
30 Mar 2015

Martin Currie Global dips into reserves to grow dividend

Martin Currie Global Portfolio results for the year ended 31 January 2015 have been released. They show the fund underperforming its benchmark, the FTSE World Index, a bit in net asset value terms – returning 16.1% vs. 17.3% – but marginally outperforming in share price terms – +17.4%.The dividend was increased from 4p to 4.1p but this was […]

Sectors
30 Mar 2015

Schroder Japan Growth doing well

Schroder Japan Growth’s interims for the six months ended 31 January 2015 show the company’s NAV produced a total return of 12.1%, outperforming the Benchmark Index, which produced a total return of 8.9%. The share price produced a total return of 11.3% during the period. Andrew Rose’s manager’s report says the sharp fall in the oil […]

Sectors
30 Mar 2015

VinaCapital Vietnam Opps swaps dairy interests, outperforms

VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunities Fund added around 1% to its NAV over the second half of 2014. This was well ahead of the Vietnam Index which fell by 6%. The best performing part of the portfolio was their private equity positions. They sold An Giang Plant Protection for $63.1m. This investment was originally purchased five years ago […]

Sectors
27 Mar 2015

Change of manager and benchmark for Fidelity Asian Values

Over the six months that ended on 31 January 2015, Fidelity Asian Values outperformed its benchmark, generating a return on net assets of 9.2% as compared to 8.2% for the MSCI AC Far East ex Japan Index. Shareholders did even better than this though as the discount narrowed from 12.5% to 11.3%, giving them a total return of […]

Sectors
27 Mar 2015
NextEnergy Solar adds Cambridgeshire plant to portfolio

NextEnergy Solar adds Cambridgeshire plant to portfolio

NextEnergy Solar is paying up to £17.8m to acquire a 16.5 MWp solar plant at Croydon in Cambridgeshire. The plant was connected to the grid on 2 March 2015 and so will qualify for the 1.4 ROC subsidy regime. The plant was constructed under an Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract negotiated by NESF’s investment advisor, […]

27 Mar 2015

BBGI now holds stakes in 36 projects

BBGI has announced results for calendar year 2014, reporting a 3.5% increase in net asset value to 109.2p. The dividend for the year was 5.76p, a 4.7% increase on the 2013 figure. The combination of this and the fund’s premium meant that the total return to shareholders was 10.8% for the year. The average discount […]

27 Mar 2015

F&C Private Equity results benefit from exit bonanza

F&C Private Equity has published results for the year ended 31 December 2014. The total return to shareholders over this period was 10.3%. This was made up of a net asset value total return of 7.3% and a narrowing of the fund’s discount. They are paying dividends totalling 10.84p for the year which puts the […]

27 Mar 2015

Gerald Smith replaced as manager of Monks

The Board of Monks has announced changes to the management of that fund. Gerald Smith is being replaced by Charles Plowden and he will be assisted by Spencer Adair and Malcolm MacColl as new deputy managers. The announcement says the change takes place with immediate effect. The Trust will now be managed from Baillie Gifford’s […]

Sectors
27 Mar 2015

Cost-conscious Alliance Trust chief braces for onslaught

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a188bda4-ccbb-11e4-b5a5-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Vbb2O0ko Cost-conscious Alliance Trust chief braces for onslaught David Oakley, Judith Evans and Miles Johnson  

Sectors
26 Mar 2015

DW Catalysts has difficult second half, high yield exposure weighs

DW Catalyst Fund Limited (the former BH Credit Catalysts) has reported results for the year that ended on 31 December 2014. Over the year the net asset value of the US dollar shares rose by 5.4% and the Sterling shares rose by 5.5%. DW Partners took on responsibility for the fund on 1 January 2015 […]

26 Mar 2015

International Public Partnerships maps out dividend growth

International Public Partnerships has mapped out its planed dividend increases for the next couple of years as it reports its final results for the year ended 31 December 2014. The full year dividend for 2014 was 6.3p, up from 6.15p in 2013. The Board says the minimum target for 2015 is 6.45p and for 2016 […]

26 Mar 2015

GLI Finance reports on transformational year

GLI Finance (where the author is a non-executive director) has announced its results for 2014. Over the year GLI’s net asset value rose from 50p to 51p. Revenues were depressed by the sale of the fund’s CLO portfolio to Fair Oaks Income Fund in the middle of last year (Fair Oaks didn’t pay its first […]

26 Mar 2015

Baillie Gifford Japan hails improving corporate governance

Baillie Gifford Japan’s interim results, which cover the six months ended 28 February 2015, are pretty good. The net asset value total return was 20.5% over this period – 8.2% more than the return on the TOPIX. Stock selection was the major factor behind the outperformance. The statement highlights Baillie Giford Japan’s “active share” figure of 87%. […]

Sectors
26 Mar 2015

Highcroft reports decent 2014 figures

Highcroft Investments has published results for the year ended 31 December 2014. Over the year the fund’s net asset value rose by 12% to 923p. Gross property rental income rose by 13% to £3.1m, underpinning a 36p distribution to shareholders, up from 33.75p for 2013. The rental income increase was fuelled  by the acquisitions they […]

Sectors
26 Mar 2015

Ralph Cox stepping down at BlackRock Throgmorton

The Board of BlackRock Throgmorton Trust plc has been advised by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited that Ralph Cox, the lead portfolio manager for its Contracts for Difference (CFD) portfolio, has decided to take an extended career break and has resigned from BlackRock. The Board is pleased to announce that, with immediate effect, Dan Whitestone […]

Sectors
25 Mar 2015

Stronger Q4 nudges BH Macro into positive territory for 2014

BH Macro has published figures for 2014. They say the environment for their macro-trading strategies got more favourable towards the end of the year but this just offset poor performance earlier in the year and the return on net assets for 2014 as a whole turned out to be 0.26%. The Chairman’s statement says the weaker […]

25 Mar 2015

Vontobel takes control of TwentyFour Asset Management

TwentyFour Asset Management LLP, managers of TwentyFour Income Fund and TwentyFour Select Monthly Income, has announced that Vontobel is taking a 60% stake in it. “Vontobel will acquire a 60% shareholding in TwentyFour, with the working partners retaining a 40% stake in the business. The partners remain fully committed to TwentyFour with long-term lock-ins. The Investment Manager will […]

25 Mar 2015

Aberdeen Asian Income Fund in the wrong banks

Aberdeen Asian Income’s results for the year that ended on 31 December 2014 show the fund generating a return on net assets of 7.6%, a bit behind the 9.5% return on the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index. The dividend was edged up from 7.9p to 8p and this was covered 1.03x. The fund […]

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