Foresight Solar Fund, which raised £150m in its IPO in October 2013 to develop a portfolio of solar assets in the UK, has announced it’s on track to deliver its target dividend of 6p per share for its first financial year. We expect there will be further announcement from Foresight Solar fund in August. If they get […]

BlueCrest BlueTrend’s US Dollar share class no longer meets the FCA’s ‘Shares in Public Hands Requirement’ following its tender offer (for both its Sterling and US dollar share classes). The remaining US Dollar shares, not purchased under the tender offer, are to be compulsory converted into Sterling shares.  The conversion will take effect on or around 17 July 2014 […]

Keystone, managed by Mark Barnett (pictured), has announced that the management fee on the fund will fall from 0.8% of market capitalisation to 0.6%. This change is effective from July 1 2014. At the same time Keystone is changing the structure of its performance fee in a way that will make it slightly easier to earn […]

Over the year to 31 March 2014 BACIT generated a return on net assets of 3.63% and a share price return of 9.62%. During this period the FTSE All-Share Index return was 8.81% and the return on the Hedge Fund Research Institute Fund of Funds Strategic Index was negative 2.53% (in sterling terms). They say […]

Empiric Student Property has entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Revcap advisors to acquire a project that is building a 158 bed student accommodation project in Southampton. The building, Brunswick House on Brunswick Place, Southampton, is a former commercial property. The joint venture is paying £3.575m for the building which will be redeveloped and is […]

Independent Investment Trust, managed by Max Ward (pictured), delivered a total return on its net asset value of 5.2% over the six months ended 31 May 2014 compared to returns of 4.8% for the FTSE All-Share Index and 4.0% for the FTSE World Index. The discount widened from 6.5% to 8.6%. The dividend is unchanged at […]

Trading Emissions has sold its interest in EWG Slupsk Sp. z o.o. to Pakenham Sp. z o.o., a Polish special purpose vehicle owned and controlled by Winergy Last Mile Ltd. EWG Slupsk is developing 98 wind turbines across 8 wind farm clusters located in Northern Poland with an expected final capacity of 253.5MW. The project has a grid connection […]

Midas Income & Growth, managed by Alan Borrows (pictured) and Simon Callow has released its results for the year that ended on 30 April 2014. The total return on the net asset value for the year was 7.2% – well ahead of the company’s benchmark (LIBOR +3%) which, because LIBOR is so low, returned 3.6%. The Board […]

All Asia Asset Capital is upping its stake in power producer, Andaman Power and Utility Company, from 2.5% to 7% – issuing 11m new shares to the vendor (5.24% of the company) and paying $550,000 in cash. Andaman Power and Utility is focused on Thailand and Myanmar. It has done a deal with Aggreko to […]

Highcroft Investments has sold a property it owns in Beckenham for £1m. The 5,913 sq ft building is let to Superdrug on a rent of £72,000 on a deal that expires in June 2018. The sale price was 25% more than its valuation at 31 December 2013. Highcroft intends to use the sale proceeds to invest […]

SVM UK Emerging, co-managed by Margaret Lawson (pictured) and Colin McLean, has published its results for the year that ended 31 March 2014. Over the year the net asset value generated a total return of 37.2% – over 20% ahead of the company’s benchmark (the IMA UK All Companies Sector) which returned 17.1%. The return to shareholders […]

Empiric Student Property has bought a development of an 86 bedroom student accommodation block being constructed on the site of a former cinema in Buccleuch Street in Edinburgh (next to the University of Edinburgh). Empiric has bought the freehold of the site from Cruden Homes (East) who are building the project for a cost of […]

SEGRO has sold Pegasus Park in Brussels for €83.4m (no change on the valuation as at 31 December 2013). The property generated a yield, after admin costs, of 9.0%. Pegasus park is an 81,500 sqm office park close to Brussels airport. The high yield reflects the vacancy rate – about 20% – and relatively short […]

NextEnergy Solar Fund has bought a solar plant in Bilsham, Sussex that is being developed by BNRG Renewables. The plant is being built in two phases – one of 12.5MW and another of 2.5MW. NextEnergy Solar Fund will hand over £15m for the plant once it is awarded its preliminary acceptance certificate (expected August 2014). The […]

Real Estate Investors has sold Cathedral Place, 42-44 Waterloo Street, Birmingham to Can Like UK for £4.6m. This price equates to an initial yield of 4.1%. They say that other disposals are on the cards. Real Estate Investors has also updated the market on the position of the company as at 30 June 2014. All of […]

Small Companies Dividend Trust has published its anual accounts for the year ended 30 April 2014. It was a remarkable period for the fund as its net asset value per share rose by 37.9% and its share price by 46.3%. By contrast the MSCI UK Small Cap Index rose by 19.3%. The discount narrowed from […]

NextEnergy Solar Fund has bought a solar plant in Bilsham, Sussex that is being developed by BNRG Renewables. The plant is being built in two phases – one of 12.5MW and another of 2.5MW. NextEnergy Solar Fund will hand over £15m for the plant once it is awarded its preliminary acceptance certificate (expected August 2014). The […]

ARC Capital has been trying to sell its holding in Funtalk China Holdings. Shareholders have approved the deal but today ARC Capital Holdings has announced that one of the other conditions that needed to be satisfied before the deal could take place has not been fulfilled yet – namely that PAG Asia I LP (a vehicle […]

Artemis Alpha Trust has released results for the period ended 30 April 2014. It generated a net asset value total return of 13.3% for the period, ahead of the 10.5% return generated by the FTSE All-Share Index. The dividend increased from 3.05p to 3.2p. The fund’s discount widened however so the return to shareholders was […]

Burford Capital has released a trading update covering the six month period to the end of June. They say that, since the inception of the fund, 26 investments have generated $173.9 million in gross investment recoveries and $67 million net of invested capital, producing a 63% net return on invested capital. They go o to say […]

LondonMetric Property has a joint venture with Universities Superannuation Scheme called Metric Income Plus Limited Partnership. this joint venture is buying Trostre South Retail Park in Llanelli from Benesco, a charity, for £12.8m, equivalent to a net initial yield of 6.8%. The 75,400 sq ft Tostre South Retail Park is let to B&Q, Pets at Home and KFC […]

Investors in Global Real Estate has announced that it has selected Schroder Property Investment Management Limited as its new manager (starting today!). The portfolio will be run by a new Global Property Securities team established by Schroder consisting of Tom Walker (from AMP where he was Deputy Head of Global Listed Real Estate), Hugo Machin (from AMP where […]

Over the year to the end of March 2014, Oryx International Growth’s net asset value rose by 43.1% – outpacing the FTSE Small Cap Index by some margin (the index returned 17.5%). The main drivers of performance within the quoted portfolio were Essenden (the ten pin bowling company), up 200%; MJ Gleeson, up over 90%; Goals Soccer Centres, up over […]

Duet Real Estate Finance has announced that “loan 13” has been fully realised (because the underlying asset that it was secured against has been sold) and that the return on the investment was “in-line with its investment criteria”. Whilst that statement is not too informative, Duet Real Estate Finance has said that the net effect of […]

Empiric Student Property has made its first acquisition since listing on 30 June. It has announced that it spent £31m on three properties – College Green in Bristol (an 84 bed long leasehold property bought for £9.97m at a net initial yield of 6.4%); Picturehouse Apartments in Exeter (a 102 bed freehold property, pictured, acquired […]

International Public Partnerships has bought 72% of the second phase of Nottingham’s Building Schools for the Future portfolio. They already held 10% of this so this takes their stake to 82%. INPP is buying this form Carillion Private Finance for £2.75m. The project comprises the Farnborough School and Technology College and caters for over 1000 […]

Jupiter Second Split has announced its interim results. Over the six months to the end of April 2014, the value of its portfolio was barely changed – off by 0.1%. As the zero dividend preference share NAV grew, so the net asset value of the geared ordinary shares fell – by 8.3% during this six month […]

Target Healthcare REIT is acquiring a new, purpose-built, £6m care home in Hinckley, Leicestershire. The 72 bedroom home will be leased to Care Concern Group for 35 years on a lease that brings Target Healthcare REIT an initial 7% yield and increases in rent each year in line with RPI (subject to a cap and collar). […]

F&C Private Equity will replace its zero dividend preference share issue with a new debt facility. The ZDPs mature in December this year and the Board of F&C Private Equity has concluded that the most cost effective and flexible way of funding this and maintaining some modest level of gearing within the fund is to […]