Investment trusts

895 attend AIC conference aimed at retail investors

  ShareSoc members interested in investing in Investment Trusts should read on. The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) held its annual Investment Company Showcase on Friday 11 October. Now in its third year, the free event, aimed at private investors, attracted 895 attendees. Online and in person attendees heard from more than 30 leading investment trust managers, covering topics ranging from UK equities to emerging markets, and high income to cutting-edge technology. In addition to the speaker sessions, in person attendees had the opportunity to meet and speak ...

Investment trusts: time for boards to earn their corn

This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Why boards can't leave everything to the market. Or to the manager. Every morning I take the dog on a long walk, and usually listen to a podcast or two. One of my regulars is the Money Makers podcast, which is presented by investment trusts aficionado Jonathan Davis. Every week he has a couple of commentators on the sector, usually a manager and a generalist, often a broker or ...

A Tale of Two Investment Trusts

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Salutary Lessons for Directors and Shareholders of Trusts Investing in Alternative Assets  Usually, the role of non-executive director at an investment trust is a bit of a sinecure. Most investment trusts invest in stocks and bonds. Their portfolios are easy to value and there is little scope for misdeeds. Most such trusts publish their NAVs daily. The principal role for NEDs of such trusts is to ...

Investment Trust fees – should they be based on market cap or NAV?

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Should Investment Trusts (including VCTs)  base their fees on market cap and not Net Asset Value? In the case of of Chrysalis Investments (CHRY), the 58% discount to NAV means the 0.77% fees as a % of NAV are in excess of 1.5% of market cap, which in my opinion is egregious:   A story in Investment Week "Chrysalis managers stand by unlisted holdings" https://www.investmentweek.co.uk/4055056/ also highlighted the ...

Investment Trust Discount Reduction – The SEC example

by ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight. These are my views and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Readers may recall my blog in Oct 2020 about investment trusts discounts and what to do about them https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/collective-investments/investment-trust-discounts-what-to-do-about-them-and-sec-example/ On Friday 28 May 2021,  SEC announced their new plan to help reduce their discount, https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/SEC/contingent-tender-offers/14995537 : 2022 Contingent Tender The Board has determined to put in place a contingent tender offer in 2022, should the ordinary shares trade at a wider than average discount of 8 per cent. over the ...

Investment Trusts – Update on Progress

ShareSoc News Item: Below is an article from guest contributor Annabel Brodie-Smith, who is the Communications Director at the AIC. Investment Trusts are a very important part of investing, with AUM of £250 billion. They are arguably better, and better value, than funds. For new investors half a dozen investments trusts or passive ETFs or a mix of both are arguably the best way to start on your investment journey. Most sophisticated investors have at least part of their wealth invested in ...

Strategic Equity Capital GM

SEC still has a  20% discount (258p share price versus 312p NAV) and the Directors own pitifully few shares so have little skin in the game and no incentive to sort this out. I have registered my protest vote, via interactive investors' excellent voting platform (NOTE TO HARGREAVES LANSDOWN - you really ought to provide a better voting service to your customers). I think my vote is a protest vote as it looks likely the directors will win. Other shareholders should consider ...

Strategic Equity Capital update

 by Cliff Weight, ShareSoc Director Please note the views expressed in this blog are my personal ones. I hold shares in SEC and Gresham House. Within 6 months of manager change and change of lead fund manager and break on SLA marketing JV, the largest shareholder puts stock into hands of an arb. What will happen next? The background is in my 2 previous blogs: https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/collective-investments/investment-trust-discounts-what-to-do-about-them-and-sec-example/ https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/collective-investments/nearly-20-vote-against-strategic-equity-capitalsec-agm-resolution/ RIT recently sold its 13% holding in SEC at a discount, of 22.8% - 9.47m shares traded at 202.5p on17th ...

Investment Trust Discounts, What To Do About Them and SEC Example

In this article, I argue that discounts are bad for those invested in a trust, and the Board of the investment trust should look to reduce any discount. However, for those thinking of investing in the trust the discount might be an opportunity. The question is, how real is that opportunity or is it just a 'value trap'? We look at why discounts can arise and the measures that can be taken to eliminate them or even move the trust to a ...

The Advantages of Investment Trusts

The AIC has issued a video which spells out some of the advantages of investment trusts over open-ended funds. They spell out that with most investment products you don’t have a say, but with investment trusts you do because you can vote on important decisions about how your company is run and what it invests in. You can also attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to meet, and question, the board directors and the investment manager. Investment companies also have independent ...

Who runs investment trusts?

Investment trusts are of course normal public companies, with a board of directors who are responsible to shareholders. Or to quote from a good article on these long established and low cost investment funds by Ian Cowie in the latest Aberdeen newsletter: "Unlike unit trusts, every investment trust has a board of directors whose duty is to represent the interests of investors rather than any fund management company. Investment trust directors can - and occasionally do - sack fund managers who ...