Hong Kong Phoney

What future does the Hong Kong stock market have under China’s growing influence?

Unconscious uncoupling

Investment trusts in the emerging market sector could be less correlated than you might think…

Fidelity Asian Values

FAS’s unique positioning could offer investors diversification benefits…

Fidelity Asian Values

FAS has a highly differentiated profile: small-cap Asian value with a significant China exposure…

Fidelity Asian Values

FAS’ approach is unique amongst peers, leading to a stellar year that has elevated long-term outperformance…

Hardman & Co Monthly: March 2023

Feature article: Higher interest rates overshadow IIC/REIF prospects We focus on the nine quoted infrastructure investment companies (IICs) and on the 22 renewable energy infrastructure funds (REIFs), most of which saw their share prices fall during 2022, while the FTSE 100 rose by just 0.9%. In our ‘Quoted UK Infrastructure and Renewable Energy – Prospects for 2023’ publication, we have addressed the three key issues of recent months – higher inflation, extremely volatile power prices and risin

Fidelity Asian Values (FAS): India: adding spice to the mix

India accounts for 23% of FAV’s portfolio and the top two overweight positions, both of which are Financials. In this note, we examine some of the key macro attractions of the that market, which help generate favourable tailwinds for investment. These include economic growth, socio-demographic changes, digitalisation and deregulation. We also use the two overweight, very different Indian case studies, to illustrate FAV’s investment approach and how it adds value in the process. In six months, th

Hardman & Co Monthly: February 2023

Feature article: Asset manager valuations Asset managers had a poor 2022: the S&P Composite 1500 Asset Management Index was down 22% and, according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI), worldwide mutual funds fell by 20%, from $76tr to $60tr. When bond and equity markets fall, the results are unlikely to be pretty: with revenues trending down and multiples contracting, there is a double whammy to contend with. So how do valuations shape up now, after a bullish start to the new year?

Hardman & Co Monthly: January 2023

Feature article: Hardman & Co Healthcare Index - Review of 2022 The main function of the HHI is to monitor the performance, and to highlight the attractiveness, of life sciences investments over the long term, and to try to identify those stocks that have disruptive technologies that consistently allow them to outperform both the index and the markets. Many of the 53 constituents of the index are high-risk, still being in the development stage, with micro-capitalisations and a long way from sal

The Hardman & Co Monthly: November 2022

Feature article: A different kind of beat: Boyzone, 1996 Quoted company engagement with retail investors – a new world This month's feature article has been written in collaboration with The Quoted Companies Alliance. Introduction: Retail investors used to be the second-class citizens of the stock market. The bulk of their money was held in funds or pension schemes where a professional took all the decisions and where they owned only a tiny part of the equity market directly. They also tended

Fidelity Asian Values - FAV: questions for the 2022 AGM on 23 November

In this note, we ask the questions we would ask the FAV board at the forthcoming AGM, on 23 November 2022. To offer a perspective, we also give the answers that we would give, if we were asked the same questions. We believe they fall into three key areas, and we ask i) why has the trust outperformed over the long term, ii) what are the short-term prospects, especially bearing in mind the market’s appetite for small-cap, value companies in Asia, the trust’s exposure to Chinese and financial busin

The Hardman & Co Monthly: October 2022

Feature article: A glass half-empty view of markets - The 20s harder than the last decade This month’s feature article is written by Steve Clapham, who gives his view on the outlook for markets. He sets out one side of the current debate in markets. Steve is admirably experienced to express an opinion. Steve is the founder of Behind the Balance Sheet, an investor training consultancy. He qualified as a chartered accountant before moving into investment banking as an analyst in the 1980s. In

The Hardman & Co Monthly: September 2022

Feature article: Macro issues dominate investor sentiment - Some basics for investors The big topics in the investment world at the moment seem to be macroeconomic. With that in mind, we thought it would be useful to revisit some of the basics of the terms being used in the current environment, and to remind investors of the things to look out for (indeed, many younger investors may not have come across some of these influences in their investing lifetime): • Recession does not affect

The Hardman & Co Monthly: August 2022

Feature article: Utility regulation – Changes afoot - Patching up a tainted model While the gas supply crisis – and its price implications – have dominated the UK price regulated sectors in recent months, other issues have arisen that have seriously tainted the price regulation system itself. Indeed, it is fair to ask whether it is ‘’fit for purpose’’. Back in 1984, price regulation, via an unsophisticated RPI-x formula, was introduced to prevent the privatised British Telecom (BT) from abusin

Hardman & Co Monthly: July 2022

Feature article: Punching above their weight? The contribution of small- and mid-cap quoted companies to markets, employment and tax revenues Back in May 2019, Hardman & Co and the Quoted Companies Alliance jointly published a paper looking at the importance of small and mid-size quoted companies (SMQCs) to the markets, and their contribution to tax revenues and employment in the UK. This is a poorly researched area, and that paper helped frame the debate; it has been quoted from by bodies such

PANMURE LIBERUM: UK Asset & Wealth Management: Farewell to Summer

Impax AM: AUM +0.7% in Q4, -0.6% in FY24, dividend yield 7.4%

AUM closed FY24 (1 Oct 23 - 30 Sep 24) on £37.2bn, 0.6% down y-o-y. Net outflows over FY24 totalled £5.8bn, largely offset by a positive investment performance of +£5.3bn and a contribution of +£0.3bn from the acquisition of Absalon Capital Management in Q4. As flagged, outflows were heavily impacted during the year by Impax’s largest distribution partner, BNP Paribas, and some other clients in European private wealth, reducing their clients’ weighting to equities in favour of money market fund

Strong FY24 prompts improved outlook for returns

The yoy growth rates are impressive across the board, underpinned by +12% lfl rental growth. The asset performance in the portfolio remains strong, providing clear evidence that demand for the product is undimmed. This has continued into Q1. In light of this performance, the board has indicated that it will review the FY25e dividend target. We increase our estimates (+8-10% EPS, +4% NAV) bolstered by the performance but retaining conservatism. We increase our target price to 145p (FY25e NAV, fro

Feedback from Digital Transformation Conference

On 1st October, Dowgate Capital and FTI Consulting held their fourth annual Digital Transformation Conference.

Allenby Capital TMT Update - 07.10.24 - SPSY.L, CHSS.L, ELEG.L, SEEN.L

Please find below our weekly update covering themes that we feel that are of interest to investors and participants in the small and mid-cap TMT sector as well as commentary on recent newsflow.

H&T Group+ (HAT, House Stock at 368p) - Maxcroft site visit

NB Private Equity Partners (NBPE): NB: adding value in attractive co-investment sector

In our initiation, we highlighted that NBPE is uniquely focused in the co-investment sector of PE. Our report underlined why this sector has especially appealing return, cashflow, asset selection, risk management, and GP access characteristics. In this note, we review how the manager, NB, adds value in this attractive market. Inter alia, NB has i) the resources to understand the investee company dynamics, ii) excellent GP relationships and iii) experience/skills that add value to the GPs. Its su

New strategy already LIFTing off with neat bolt-on

Brooks Macdonald (“BM”) has announced the acquisition of LIFT Financial (“LIFT”) for up to £45m (incl. £30m cash on completion). LIFT’s HNWI wealth management franchise adds £1.6bn AuA (of which, £600m FuM) across 1,400 clients from its Manchester HQ. There are some modest cost synergies and medium term revenue synergies. Putting revenue synergies to one side for the moment, we forecast 6% EPS accretion in FY26e (first full year) and +9% in FY27e. We reiterate our 2500p 12m Target Price (16x FY2

Morning Note – 30 September 2024

PANMURE LIBERUM: Harworth: Acquisition of a Grade A urban logistics scheme

PANMURE LIBERUM: DF Capital: Strong momentum and solid fundamentals

Foxtons Group - Valuation offers 100% upside

Foxtons Group’s H1 results clearly highlight the success of the strategy the company embarked on at the start of last year. Although there is still work to be done, significant progress has been made and it now appears likely that the medium-term target of reaching operating profit in the range of £25–30m can be achieved. Although we have maintained our existing forecasts and valuation, we believe the risks appear to be to the upside, considering that the underlying macroeconomic data appear to

Around the World in Eight Ideas - Investment Trust Opportunities Beyond the UK

Although the UK now represents a paltry 3.5-4.0% of global equity indices, home bias in the domestic stock market is estimated at c 25% across institutional and retail investors. This persists across asset classes: in the Investment Association universe of open-ended funds, 28.1% of total AUM at the end of September 2023 was invested in UK sectors. This leaves a significant amount of investors' assets exposed to overseas markets that may be unfamiliar and harder to access. In such a situation, t

Hardman & Co Monthly: October 2024

Feature article: Labour’s first Budget - Investors in their sights? Summary ► Budgets are always important for investors. ► The imminent Budget, at the end of October, will be doubly so, because it is the first from the new Labour government, and it has already signalled the need to fill an alleged £22bn black hole, while ruling out changes to more than half the tax base. That implies a lot of the pain will be felt by investors. ► This paper considers the impact of increases in rates for th

Growth and income