SHORE CAPITAL - Investment Funds Monthly

BlackRock Smaller Companies

BRSC’s wide discount and lower portfolio valuations may offer an attractive entry opportunity for long-term investors...

BlackRock Smaller Companies

BRSC’s wide discount could prove a lucrative long-term entry point

SHORE CAPITAL - BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust+ (BRSC, House Stock at 1642p)

Great expectations

Once upon a time I was lucky enough to spend a few days on a junket to Morocco, where I stayed at a hotel in Marrakech called La Mamounia, occupying the grounds of a former royal palace built by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah in the 18th century and described by Winston Churchill as ‘the most lovely spot in the whole world’. On my last night at the hotel I won approximately 52 million dirhams1 in the hotel casino and, feeling somewhat groggy the following morning after celebrating my victory unti

BlackRock Smaller Companies - Overview

BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) invests in a portfolio of UK small and mid-cap companies. The manager, Roland Arnold, seeks to identify high-quality companies with strong growth prospects. BRSC has an enviable long-term record of outperforming both the benchmark and the peer-group average, consistently outperforming its benchmark since 2004. A by-product of this has been a consistently positive information ratio, indicating the consistent success of the manager’s active decisions. Despite th

The importance of stock selection

Eye of the Pfizer

It is often considered axiomatic in investment markets that smaller companies offer greater pricing inefficiencies, and thus greater opportunities to active managers to generate outperformance. In the UK Small Cap space, we have certainly seen suggestions over the long term that this is true, with the Morningstar UK Small Cap sector producing an average NAV return of c. 173.4% over the ten years to 05/02/2021, compared to a return of c. 115.2% from the Numis Small Cap including AIM excluding Inv

BlackRock Smaller Companies - Overview

BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) aims for long-term capital growth through investment in UK small-cap or AIM-listed companies. The manager, Roland Arnold, seeks to identify high-quality companies with strong growth prospects. As we discuss under Performance, BRSC has generated consistently strong returns in recent years, consistently outperforming and generating positive risk-adjusted returns (as measured by the information ratio). Whilst much of 2020 proved relatively challenging, the trust

Five small cap trusts on very wide discounts

Trusts in the AIC UK Smaller Companies sector have de-rated significantly. Discounts have widened dramatically this year, having been pushed to a historic narrow point by the ‘Boris bounce’ at the end of last year. On an average discount of 12%, discounts in the sector are now wider than the 10 year weighted average discount of 11.5%. Within this average, there are some significant outliers. We look at the prospects for smaller company returns, as well as highlight those trusts exposed to them w

BlackRock Smaller Companies - Overview

BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) aims to grow capital over the long term by investing in a portfolio of UK listed smaller companies. The trust has an exceptional long-term track record relative to the benchmark, outperforming in each of the past ten calendar years, as we discuss further in the Performance section. The manager, Roland Arnold, pays particular attention to growth companies which have the potential to become market leaders in their fields. As such, he favours companies towards the

The fight in the dog

Smaller companies are usually a problematic area to invest in during significant downturns or recessions; and the sharp fall in 2020 hasn’t been an exception. In this article we assess the performance of smaller companies trusts throughout the pandemic, while identifying the factors that have differentiated the winners from the losers. This includes the impact that cash, market cap exposure, sector allocation, revenue exposure and growth or value biases have had, with some surprising results. We

BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust - Overview

BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) aims to grow capital over the long term through a portfolio of UK listed smaller companies. The trust has a strong long-term track record of outperformance, not only against its benchmark but also its open- and closed-ended peers in the UK Smaller Companies sector. After more than 16 years at the helm of the portfolio, Mike Prentis made the decision to step down in June 2019, leaving co-manager Roland Arnold to take over the reins. Despite this, little has cha

Clear and present opportunity

CMD - Broadening & deepening client relationships

A dose of morosity

No change in the narrative. Aviva’s ship sails on as usual. The PRT business is still going well, inflation remains an impediment to a strong P&C improvement, retail customers seem more interested in the rising cost of living than savings’ products and Aviva investors see no real signs of an improvement. This is the same story as in recent quarters and, in that context, our thesis remains the same.

Rising signals

'Airlines will be shocked when Covid leases run out and rates go up’

Morning Note – 24 May 2023

The Opportunity in Short-Termism

Fears vs Fundamentals (again) For 2 years, European banks have enjoyed potent earnings upgrades. For 2 years, valuations have been trapped between ''unease'' and ''outright panic'' multiples. This note looks at the latest fears and fundamentals behind this ongoing struggle. We extract lasting lessons from Q1, a record profit quarter, and extend our work on the fears of the moment: ''peak NIM'', CRE and credit contraction. Peak NIM - no, not yet We refresh our top-down margin work for the late

NAHL Group plc: AGM update: Continued progress in scaling the business for future growth

NAHL’s AGM statement released today, is encouraging as management continues to scale the businesses for further growth. As a result, the Board’s expectations for the full year remain unchanged and we make no alterations to our forecasts. As a reminder, these still call for a c.13% increase in adjusted PBT in 2023, c.170% in FY24 and a further c.70% in FY25. Our current fair value remains at 65p but this is likely to rise as the Group delivers on its significant potential.

WH Ireland: Avation - Market tailwinds highlighted in Bloomberg Intelligence event

Avation is a lessor of 35 commercial aircraft to a diversified client base of 17 airlines. Yesterday's Bloomberg Intelligence webinar event entitled ‘Aircraft Lessor Recovery and Innovation' reaffirmed a number of positive market trends for aircraft lessors at the present time. Key points included: i) structural deficits in the supply of turboprop aircraft in the coming years, with aircraft retirements expected to outpace limited production of new aircraft; ii) the strong recovery in air travel

This Week's AIM Highlights 19th May

Early Mover in UK Lab-grown Meat

BSF Enterprise Plc (BSF) is a biotechnology company focused on acquiring, combining, and building businesses in the lab-grown tissue space. It aims to achieve this through an acquisition-led growth strategy and has already acquired the tissue engineering and cellular agriculture company, 3D Bio Tissues.

An Asian exploration

We spent last week with HSBC and STAN in Hong Kong and Singapore, delving into the detail of structural drivers for Asia. Both banks have a good story to tell, with business models that are well positioned and being enhanced further. In isolation we did not learn enough to warrant a change in recommendation but tailwinds from the region are not to be overlooked. A deep dive into a core part of the investment case Asia sits at the core of the investment case for both HSBC and STAN given its share

c.60% discount to NAV... Can deep value prevail?

Petershill (PHP) reported a Q1-23 double digit % headline miss on FRE/DE mostly driven by cyclical factors. However, fundraising was resilient including more closings after quarter end and PHP reiterated FY2023 guidance ($220-250m FRE). We remain outperform, 250p target price. Weakness on headline earnings amid a muted industry backdrop Private markets are being tested in 2023 with private equity deal activity down c.50-80% y/y. In this context, the headline Q1 miss was mostly driven by cyclica

Trading update indicates strong FY23 performance

Very strong CY22 - CY23 upgraded 10%

XPS CMD articulates growth potential