RIT Capital Partners – Firing up the cylinders
Firing up the cylinders RIT Capital Partners’ (RIT’s) performance has improved after last year’s leadership changes and a shift to a more focused strategy. All three investment pillars – quoted equities, private investments, and uncorrelated strategies – have delivered strong results. The private portfolio, which had previously held back performance, has seen some profitable exits […]
Veteran activist investor Richard Bernstein to leave Crystal Amber, giving Saba a partial exit as Tarncourt takes helm
Saba Capital is to finally begin offloading some of its 26% stake in fellow activist Crystal Amber (CRS) after its fund manager Richard Bernstein said he would resign to pursue other ventures. The board of £95m Crystal Amber, which Saba forced into a lengthy wind-down four years ago, is in talks with Tarncourt Capital about appointing it as the new fund manager to run […]
Morning briefing: JPMorgan Global Emerging outperforms but Schroder Oriental Income falls short; plus RTW, NBDD-NBDX-NBDG, SOHO
The £439m JPMorgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust (JEMI) reported strong results for the year to 31 July with an underlying net asset value (NAV) total return of 14.1%, outperforming its MSCI Emerging Markets index benchmark, which returned 13.7% in sterling terms, and underpinned a total shareholder return of 16.8%. The trust stands on a […]
Rights and Issues Investment Trust – Looking oversold
Looking oversold Rights and Issues Investment Trust (RIII) is battling a number of headwinds. UK small caps face a lacklustre UK economy, a looming budget that is creating market uncertainty, and seemingly indifferent domestic and international investors. To this we can add a large shareholder who appears to be actively frustrating efforts by RIII’s board […]
Bluefield Solar and fund manager hoist for sale sign, offering an integrated renewables business to potential buyers
Bluefield Solar Income (BSIF) and its fund manager Bluefield Partners have put themselves up for sale after a majority of the investment company’s shareholders objected to a proposal floated last month for them to merge. The £414m renewables fund has launched a “coordinated” strategic review and formal sales process after shareholders stated their clear preference […]
Fund Brief: Seraphim Space
Seraphim is the world’s leading specialist investor in SpaceTech, backing technologies that strengthen global security, enable resilient infrastructure, and address the planet’s most urgent challenges. Our platform spans the full innovation lifecycle, from idea to IPO: Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC – our growth-stage listed fund, Seraphim Space Venture Fund II – our early-stage venture […]
SPOOKY STOCKS! Satellites, AI and green energy might sound scary but are they more Treat than Trick?
Baron Rothschild once advocated investing when there was ‘blood on the streets’. It may be a gruesome metaphor, but there is wisdom in buying investments when they appear a little scary. It suggests the risks are well understood, and the price may be appealing. This Halloween, we look at three investment trusts that may seem […]
Patria Private Equity Trust – Difficult conditions make for better vintages
Difficult conditions make for better vintages Patria Private Equity (PPET) has been able to build up an enviable long-term track record, with returns towards the top end of peer group tables and well-ahead of equivalent listed equities. It is clear that PPET’s bias to European mid-market deals has served it well despite lacklustre economic growth […]
Morning briefing: Aquila renewables fund to return £55m after Greek disposal; TwentyFour Income raises £42m; plus BBOX, ICGT, PIN, USA, AAEV, AATG, CRWN
Aquila European Renewables (AERI), a £176m investment company two years into a difficult wind-down, has agreed to sell its Danish and Greek wind assets (Holmen II, Svindbaek and Desfina) to its fund manager Aquila Capital for €61.9m, a 17% discount to their valuation at 30 June. Together with the €16.5m sale of its minority investment in […]
AI fund Manchester and London hikes dividend by 30% to offset suspension of share buybacks
Manchester and London (MNL), the £303m technology forced to suspend share buybacks last month in a bid to protect its investment trust status, has announced a dramatic hike in its dividends to shore up shareholder returns. Chair Dan Wright said the company would pay at least 40p in annual dividends for the next five years […]
Morning briefing: Macau Property eyes emergency share issue; CVC Income raises £10.3m; Custodian sells seven Merlin properties
Macau Property Opportunities (MPO), the £34m real estate fund trying to complete a lengthy wind-up in the China region’s prolonged slowdown, is considering an emergency share issue to resolve a cash flow crisis. The company, which in August reported a 23.5% slump in net asset value in the three months to 30 June, said the […]
Manager of AI fund Manchester and London “open” to friendly mergers to solve its structural problem
Manchester & London (MNL) fund manager Mark Sheppard has responded positively to a suggestion from QuotedData’s James Carthew that taking over another investment trust might be the solution for its problematic small free float. Sheppard and his company M&L Capital Management own 62% of the £331m closed-end fund which he has wholly committed to investments […]
Trump inflation sceptics at Infrastructure Capital launch first active ETF targeting high yields from US preferred shares
Infrastructure Capital, a New York boutique, has bypassed the buoyant market in London-listed debt funds to launch the first actively managed Dublin-based exchange traded fund (ETF) investing in US preferred shares. The Infrastructure Capital Preferred Income Ucits ETF has been listed by ETF provider HANetf on the London Stock Exchange under the PFFI ticker as […]
Morning briefing: Henderson Smaller passes continuation vote; Riverstone Energy returns £190m; Unite misses targets; plus WKOF, FGT, SJG, MVCT, IPO
Henderson Smaller Companies (HSL), the £549m underperforming UK small-cap investment trust whose fund manager Neil Hermon retired last month after 23 years, has passed its triennial continuation vote. At the annual general meeting yesterday it gained the support of 95% of votes on turnout of 38.6%. Riverstone Energy (RSE) is to return £190m in a […]
Beauty Tech Group’s £300m flotation marks a successful investment for three Northern venture capital trusts
The £300m flotation of the Beauty Tech Group (TBTG) on Thursday not only cheered the London stock market after a dearth of listings, it has also boosted the three venture capital trusts (VCTs) run by Mercia Fund Management. From a 271p offer price, shares in TBTG rose 5% to 285p on Friday and have softened […]
Hugh Osmond and SunCap private equity partners pile into what’s left of Woodford Patient Capital Trust
The managed wind-down of Schroders Capital Global Innovation (INOV), the former Woodford Patient Capital Trust, has caught the attention of financier Hugh Osmond and the senior private equity team at Sun Capital Partners (SunCap). A stock market filing this week showed that Osmond, a veteran deal-maker who bought Pizza Express and helped consolidate the pub […]
Morning briefing: US data centre REIT Fermi splashes in London; plus PEY, EOT, MMIT, SBO, NBDD
The $15bn (£11bn) US flotation of Fermi (FRMI), a data centre real estate investment trust, has given the UK market a new REIT launch after three years in which the number of listed property funds has halved. Shares in the Texan company, which was co-founded by former US energy secretary and Texas governor Rick Perry […]
TwentyFour Income launches share issue to fund “significant” opportunities in high-yield, asset-backed bonds
TwentyFour Income Fund (TFIF) has become the second debt fund to launch a fund raise this week in response to strong investor demand for high-yielding asset-backed securities (ABS). The £883m investment company, whose shares yield 9.7% after consistently beating its dividend targets since launch in 2013, has announced a two-week share placing and open offer […]
CVC Income & Growth EGM 2025
The Board of CVC Income & Growth Limitedis pleased to announce a placing and retail offer of both Euro and Sterling denominated redeemable ordinary shares of no-par value in the capital of the Company. The retail offer will be undertaken via the Winterflood Retail Access Platform. In connection with the Fundraising and WRAP Retail Offer, […]
High-flying AI fund Manchester and London stops share purchases to avoid devastating tax bill
Manchester and London (MNL), the tech-laden global fund spectacularly riding the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, has halted share buybacks and share purchases by insiders in an effort to preserve its investment trust status and avoid a damaging tax bill. In its annual report issued yesterday evening the £331m company said the free float of shares […]
Morning briefing: Lindsell Train splits shares, Baillie Gifford China Growth and North American Income outperform; plus YCA, HVPE, VTA
A 100 for 1 share split at Lindsell Train, half-year results from Baillie Gifford China Growth and North American Income, update from HarbourVest Global Private Equity and a fund raise from Yellow Cake, the uranium investor. Lindsell Train (LTI) investment trust has implemented the 100 for 1 share split announced at its annual results in […]
European Opportunities Trust – European winners, global exposure
European winners, global exposure European Opportunities Trust (EOT) remains the most growth-focused fund in its peer group. This is at a time when there are increasing signs of this style of investing coming back into favour, as inflation remains under control and interest rates trend down. More widely, Europe seems to be coming back on […]
Morning briefing: JPMorgan US Smaller suffers first half reversal; plus RSE, SRE, HGT, RTW, AUGM, SEQI, INV & GSCT
JPMorgan US Smaller Companies reports 12.4% first half fall; Riverstone Energy makes first disposal in its managed wind-down; Sirius Real Estate taps borrowers for more money; plus updates from HgCapital, Augmentum Fintech, RTW Bioscience and Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income. JPMorgan US Smaller Companies (JUSC) is having a difficult year, reporting a 12.4% fall in the […]
A golden opportunity?
This week, following recent results announcements from trusts such as Ruffer (RICA) (click here to read) and Golden Prospects Precious Metals (GPM) (click here to read), along with commentary in our August investment companies monthly (click here to read) that highlighted a number of funds that have been benefiting recently from their exposure to the […]
Morning briefing: 29% of Henderson European shareholders cash in their shares; plus CHRY, ALW, RTW, GABI, ENRG, ATR, LMP, PCTN, NRR, MWY
Henderson European (HET) says that holders of 89.775m shares opted for cash (29.04% of its share capital) and 219.332m shares were rolled into Fidelity European (FEV). The cap on the cash option was 33.3%, so everyone who wanted cash will get it. Henderson European will delist on 26 September. Having decided to hang onto all […]
Chrysalis’s Klarna completes IPO at $40 per share, valuing it at US$15.2bn
Swedish payments group Klarna – a portfolio company of Chrysalis Investments (CHRY) – has completed its long-awaited US initial public offering (IPO), with its shares priced at US$40 each, above the US$35–37 indicative range. The listing raised $1.37bn and values the company at around $15.2bn. Demand was reportedly strong, with the offering said to be […]
Morning briefing: Fidelity Japan confirms rollover into AJOT; plus SSIT, SOHO, OCI, HHI, PPET, HET/FEV, EAT/ESCT, GRI, HWG & WHR
Fidelity Japan Trust (FJV) has reported a net asset value (NAV) total return of 3.3% for the six months to 30 June 2025, broadly in line with the TOPIX Total Return Index in sterling terms, which rose 3.2%. The trust’s share price delivered a total return of 10.6% as its discount narrowed from 13.1% to […]
QuotedData’s Economic and Political Monthly Roundup – September 2025
The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a weak jobs report at the start of the month and the White House responded by sacking the boss of the agency. US inflation data came in slightly below expectations – defying fears that tariffs would be pushing up prices – that raised hopes of an interest rate cut […]
REIT Review: Real estate recovery hamstrung by weak economic outlook
A welcome base rate cut in August did little to prevent another mauling in the real estate sector, with an average 3.7% share price fall over the month. Gilt yields, and the five-year swap rate that is closely followed by the sector, widened on persistent inflation and rising public debt. Consequently, just a handful of […]
Fingers crossed at Chrysalis as Klarna has second tilt at $14bn flotation
Klarna, the Swedish credit provider, has revived plans for a $14bn (£10.5bn) flotation, raising hopes for Chrysalis (CHRY) which holds a 15% weighting to the global buy-now-pay-later firm. Shares in Chrysalis, a £600m pre-flotation private equity fund, rose over 1% today on hopes yesterday’s announcement of a New York listing may pave the way for […]
