The road ahead Chrysalis Investments (CHRY) is now seven years old, with a more mature portfolio. Since our last update, strong performance from Starling and signs of recovery at wefox have boosted NAV. Recent asset sales have provided enough liquidity for CHRY to meet its capital allocation commitments, and Klarna’s IPO increases the chance of […]

Dual-use SpaceTech: a strategic shift, not a short-term trend Rising global defence spending, with many NATO countries now meeting or exceeding previous commitments, has made SpaceTech a higher priority for governments and major contractors. This shift in priorities is feeding directly into the commercial market. Investment in SpaceTech is also rebounding, with $10.4bn raised in […]

And now for something completely different Earlier this year, BlackRock American Income (BRAI) announced a radical shake up. It asked shareholders to approve a new investment objective and policy, announced a new enhanced dividend policy, cut management fees drastically, and offered shareholders a 20% tender at a 2% discount to NAV (after costs). The proposals […]

A growing and evolving market Active exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a major recent innovation in the fund industry. They offer the flexibility and transparency of passive ETFs, combined with the benefits of active management, usually at a lower cost than traditional active funds, though still higher than passive ETFs. This note looks at the current range of […]

Top performer as Asia regains momentum Pacific Horizon (PHI) has rebounded strongly over the past year, outperforming its benchmark and peers as sentiment towards Asia has improved. The trust’s growth-focused approach, which had been out of favour during the period when global interest rates were rising, is once again delivering results. Despite the obvious challenges, […]

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 […]

Focused on the future In January, we explained why Saba Capital’s proposals were not in the best interest of Herald Investment Trust (HRI) shareholders and urged a vote against them. Most investors agreed, resulting in a clear rejection of Saba’s proposals. Although Saba remains a shareholder and brings some uncertainty, HRI continues to benefit from its closed-ended structure, allowing long-term […]

Decision time Shareholders in Polar Capital Global Healthcare (PCGH) are being asked to approve changes aimed at improving the trust’s future prospects. These include lower fees, a better structure, and regular five-yearly opportunities for all investors to exit. There is also an immediate exit option. Investors must decide whether to stay invested. However, with PCGH […]

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 […]

A whole new ball game Nicholas Weindling, one of the co-managers of JPMorgan Japanese Investment Trust (JFJ), observes that the investment landscape in Japan has changed almost beyond recognition from the picture that has persisted for most of the last few decades. The country is now seeing inflation, rising interest rates and wage rises – […]

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 […]

Hi Fidelity! AVI Japan Opportunity (AJOT) has published proposals for a combination with Fidelity Japan Trust (FJV) that would improve liquidity in AJOT’s shares, lower its ongoing charges ratio, and give the manager greater resources to unlock value in the companies it invests in. For FJV shareholders the deal offers the chance to switch into […]

Durability in times of volatility Market volatility at the start of 2025 – brought about by tariff uncertainty and the release of the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) model DeepSeek – provided an interesting snapshot into the potential performance of the companies that Lindsell Train Investment Trust (LTI) and its manager, Lindsell Train Limited (LTL), invest […]

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 […]

Public matters On 24 June Caledonia Investments (CLDN) hosted a public companies spotlight event, where the managers presented in detail on the company’s global portfolio of publicly listed investments. This element of the portfolio has a strategic allocation of between 30% and 40% of net asset value (NAV), currently making up 33%. Around 30 companies […]

Significant catch up potential After three challenging years, there are now signs that sentiment towards both growth stocks and the wider UK market is improving. Baillie Gifford UK Growth Trust (BGUK) has been a clear beneficiary of this, delivering a marked uptick in performance over the past year. The tide may be turning, but UK […]

Recovery play When we last published on Polar Capital Global Healthcare (PCGH), President Trump had just been elected, and while there were some nerves about Robert F. Kennedy Jr (RFK) being linked to the top job in the US health system, the mood was reasonably upbeat. The managers observed that the sector’s fundamentals (underlying financial […]

The IMF sounded an upbeat note in July, upgrading its global growth forecast on the back of the weakening US dollar Tariffs featured prominently in headlines as the extended 1 August deadline for a return to tariffs imposed on Liberation Day loomed and countries scrambled to do deals. The big news was an agreement with […]

AI of the tiger Polar Capital Technology’s (PCT’s) underweight positions in Apple and Alphabet have paid off handsomely in recent months – with the share price of both stalling on fears of their vulnerability in the artificial intelligence (AI) race. This points to the increasingly evident merits of an active approach to investing in AI. […]

Significant progress on “Reset for growth” In November 2024, Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) set out its “Reset for growth” plan, which included team changes, process changes, a more-focused portfolio, and a commitment to return up to £130m to shareholders in 2025 (see pages 5 and 6 for more details). Shareholders approved changes needed to implement the […]

A new giant for a new market reality Alliance Witan (ALW), the result of the merger between Alliance Trust and Witan in October 2024, is now an investment juggernaut. The combined entity now has c.£4.5bn in assets and has been propelled into FTSE 100. Investors are benefitting from superior liquidity in its shares, lower fees, […]

Substantive progress Since interest rates began to rise to tackle inflation, GCP Infrastructure (GCP) has, like many similar investment companies, been afflicted by a wide share price discount to net asset value (NAV). The board and the investment adviser have been working to tackle this through a policy of capital recycling. This aims to free […]

No shortage of targets AVI Global Trust (AGT) offers a distinct investment proposition from its peers, focusing on opportunities to extract value from undervalued companies where structural reform could unlock value. The weighted average discount on the underlying portfolio is close to historically wide levels, reflecting a number of attractive opportunities that the manager has […]

Asian income without compromising on growth JPMorgan Asia Growth and Income (JAGI) has a solid long-term track record of outperformance of its benchmark (the MSCI All Countries Asia ex Japan index), helped by its focus on maximising long-term total returns. In February 2025, the trust introduced an even more enhanced dividend policy, that delivers an […]

Fuel for (AI powered) thought Pantheon Infrastructure’s (PINT) portfolio is focused on areas of secular growth. It helps both enable and take advantage of technological progress and global connectivity. It is also supporting the shift towards more sustainable energy generation. The success of its approach is particularly evident in the area of data centres – […]

Strategic refresh Foresight Environmental Infrastructure (FGEN) has set out its strategic focus over the medium term that will centre on core renewable energy generation assets. This will see it sell its growth assets once operations have ramped up and valuation maximised. This will provide the company with capital allocation flexibility and allow it to invest […]

July Monthly | Investment companies  Winners and losers in June 2025 In a continuation of May’s relative recovery from the effects of the US’ ‘liberation day’ tariffs, technology stocks led the pack of best performers. A renewed optimism for AI stocks contributed to rises for indices such as the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite, which […]

The outbreak of war between Israel and Iran, the US intervention, and the subsequent ceasefire dominated headlines but appeared to have only very temporary effects on markets and oil prices. Amid heightening geopolitical uncertainty, June saw the Federal Reserve navigate carefully between growth support and inflation control during key policy meetings. The Trump administration proposed […]

Winners and losers in June Best performing funds in price terms Best performing funds in price terms (%) Warehouse REIT 12.3 Life Science REIT 9.9 CLS Holdings 9.9 IWG 8.4 Henry Boot 8.0 Harworth Group 7.8 Safestore 7.8 AEW UK REIT 7.3 Empiric Student Property 6.6 Regional REIT 6.3 Source: Bloomberg, Marten & Co At […]

Cautiously positioned in volatile markets In times of market turmoil, it is only natural that investors would look closer at trusts such as Capital Gearing Trust (CGT), which seeks to avoid losing shareholders’ money. As we show on page 3, it has done a great job of achieving this over more than four decades, with […]