Henderson EuroTrust - Proposed merger with Henderson European Focus Trust

On 14 March, the boards of Henderson European Focus Trust (HEFT) and Henderson EuroTrust (HNE) announced the proposed merger of the two companies to form Henderson European Trust. The resulting enlarged fund will be managed by Janus Henderson Investors’ (JHI’s) European equities team. There will be two co-managers, Tom O’Hara (currently co-lead manager of HEFT) and Jamie Ross (currently lead manager of HNE). While each co-manager has their own expertise, they share a fundamental investment philo

Henderson EuroTrust - Good stock selection outweighing headwinds

Henderson EuroTrust’s (HNE’s) manager, Jamie Ross, is heartened by the trust’s outperformance in FY23 despite investors favouring lower-quality value stocks. This result was achieved through successful stock selection. The manager employs a long-term view, seeking high-quality companies with high or improving returns. He also has a mid- and long-term record of NAV outperformance versus the Europe ex-UK market, although the trust encountered a protracted period of style headwinds between Q121 and

Henderson EuroTrust - Performance is getting back on track

Henderson EuroTrust’s (HNE’s) performance is getting back on track as investors have become more focused on company fundamentals rather than macroeconomic factors, and investors’ strong preference for value stocks (translating into style headwinds for HNE between Q121 and Q222) has waned recently. The manager (Jamie Ross) is building on HNE’s NAV 10 year record of outperformance versus the Europe ex-UK market (10.5% pa versus 9.1% pa respectively), based on a concentrated portfolio of high-quali

Henderson EuroTrust - Searching for mispriced quality

Henderson EuroTrust (HNE) provides relatively concentrated exposure to a portfolio of continental European (ex-UK) equities. The trust has been solely managed by Jamie Ross since February 2019, although his involvement with HNE dates back to 2016, alongside former longstanding fund manager Tim Stevenson. Ross is part of a well-established, collegiate European equities desk at Janus Henderson Investors (JHI) that covers the breadth of available opportunities in the region. The investment process

Henderson EuroTrust

Henderson EuroTrust (HNE) has now been under the stewardship of Jamie Ross, who took over as sole fund manager in February 2019, for three years. Jamie has remained committed to the quality-growth style of investing that has long characterised HNE. Jamie’s investment process is based around a proprietary scoring system, described in the Portfolio section, which analyses stocks around three broad factors: valuation, quality and momentum.

Henderson EuroTrust - Overview

Henderson EuroTrust (HNE) offers investors a portfolio of continental European equities with the sole objective of capital growth. Managed by Jamie Ross, who is approaching his third year as lead manager, the trust continues to maintain its preference for high-quality European growth opportunities, though it has recently taken a more balanced stance. Having rotated into ‘reopening winners’ in the latter part of 2020, the portfolio now contains more cyclical and cheaper stocks. Jamie has begun no

What next for European equities?

Despite Europe’s popularity among holidaymakers, it appears that investors prefer sunnier shores. According to The Investment Association, UK investors were net sellers of European equities in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Historically low returns from European equity markets (compared to other regions) and low GDP growth seem to have soured investors’ moods. In this article we will examine the AIC Europe and AIC European Smaller Companies sectors over the last 12 months, to see whether this pessimism is

Green is good!

Policymakers have arguably kept their heads in the sand over the threat from global warming, but 2021 seemingly marked a watershed moment. Looking for ways to stimulate economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers have responded with the promise of an unprecedented influx of fiscal stimulus, one of the focuses of which is the sustainability of the infrastructure of developed economies. One of the largest investment opportunities appears to be in renewable energy, both via the con

Henderson EuroTrust - Overview

Henderson EuroTrust (HNE) invests in a portfolio of European-domiciled companies, seeking to generate the maximum possible total return over the medium to long term. Jamie Ross took over from previous manager Tim Stevenson (who had been at the helm for over 25 years) in early 2019. Jamie made a number of substantial changes to HNE’s portfolio in early November, having grown concerned around the stretched valuations of a number of ‘COVID-19 beneficiaries’ within the portfolio. His views on a post

What the Dickens!

The bat was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. Whether the world will look anything like it did before the bat made it into a bao-bun remains to be seen. Time will tell, and it looks like we’ll have plenty of that on our hands in January but, for now, as you nurse a gin and tonic garnished with what may be one of the last slices of fresh lemon in the country, we hope you will enjoy this collection of ideas, theories and outlandish predictions from the investment companie

My haven’t you grown!

Like childbirth, we think 2020 will be remembered for what it produced rather than the agony of the experience. Events have conspired that, rather than the sickly and unpopular child it once was, sustainability as an investment theme has become a thriving, healthy teenager which seems destined for great things (note the torturous lack of gender specifics in this sentence, another thing we can thank 2020 for). As with many trends that were already in progress at the start of 2020, the speed at w

Henderson EuroTrust - Overview

Henderson EuroTrust (HNE) invests in a portfolio of European-domiciled companies, seeking to generate the maximum possible total return over the medium to long term. Jamie Ross took over from previous manager Tim Stevenson (who had been at the helm for over 25 years) in early 2019. Since Jamie took charge of the Portfolio he has focussed on integrating a thorough, objective and repeatable investment process and has increased the overall concentration of the portfolio. As a result, HNE has had in

Nice guys finish first

ESG investing, Environmental, Social, and Governance respectively, is much in vogue and has ended up weaving its way into almost every manager’s investment thesis, though with varying degrees of genuine integration. In this article we shine light on where ESG originated from, how Kepler Trust Intelligence goes about analysing ESG, and examples of trusts which demonstrate both good ESG credentials but also the nuances of assessing ESG.

The best form of defence

Last year we published a number of studies showing that investment trust managers were counteracting the rise of passive vehicles by further concentrating their portfolios and using the advantages of the closed-end structure such as gearing and the ability to pay income from capital more aggressively. New analysis from the team at Kepler shows that that over the past five years, trusts which have seen the greatest reduction in number of stocks in portfolios have generated the highest levels of

The squeeze continues: how trust costs keep falling

From 1 January 2019 wealth managers have been required to provide a full breakdown of the costs borne by a portfolio, as measured by the Key Information Document Reduction in Yield (KID RIY) figure. This includes any underlying fees from collectives. As most of us know, performance after fees is what really counts. So we continue to believe that, while shining a light on costs is entirely right, changes in investment behaviour that are driven solely by cost will do little for investor returns ov

LIBERUM: Plus500: Strategic progress pays dividends

Tatton Asset Management (TAM LN) - Record net inflows

Tatton, the leading on-platform discretionary fund manager (DFM) and IFA support services Group has released a trading update ahead of its results to 31 March 2024, due on 18 June 2024.

Hardman & Co Insight: 2023 was an annus horribilis for Quoted UK Infrastructure and Renewable Energy

The focus of Hardman & Co Research is on the nine quoted Infrastructure Investment Companies (IICs) and on the 22 Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs): the stocks analysed are all members of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). We are updating our publication of January 2023, assessing both the lacklustre share price performances during 2023 and the key issues, including interest rates, inflation and power prices. As a 31-strong group, its combined market capitalisation is no

Ondo InsurTech FY24 Trading Update

Ondo InsurTech has released a brief post-YE update revealing its good progress continued through 2H24 and consequently FY24 will be in line with market expectations.

BlackRock World Mining

BRWM’s managers: we see all the classic signs of high commodity prices...

Foxtons Group (FOXT LN) - 1Q24 IMS shows real momentum

Foxtons Group plc first quarter revenue rose 9% to £35.7m (1Q23: £32.9m) with growth delivered across all business segments. Trading is in line with management's expectations.

NextEnergy Solar Fund - Attractive Refinancing

The refinancing of a £135m revolving credit facility and the extension of a similar £70m facility gives NESF firepower as development opportunities for new solar are especially attractive thanks to lower module prices in Europe. They give the fund key financial flexibility at a critical time as it pursues its capital recycling programme.

Morning Note – 18 April 2024

The Hardman & Co Monthly: April 2024

Feature article: Steady as she goes, but could be better: A review of investment company liquidity since 2016 Liquidity is the lifeblood of equity markets. The measurement of liquid asset availability to a market or company is a way of gauging a market’s health. This article builds on our previous work, which analysed the liquidity data for non-financial trading companies, by applying the same analytical techniques to the investment companies (IC) space. We analyse liquidity for ICs as a whol

Foxtons Group - FY24 underpinned by market share gains

Foxtons Group’s Q1 revenue grew by 9%, supported by growth in all three divisions as the strategic initiatives continue to gain significant momentum, driven by investment in staff, best-in-class bespoke IT and data platforms. This implies that Foxtons’ medium-term targets are now coming into focus. Market share is being gained in all divisions, which puts Foxtons in a good position as the sales market stabilises. We maintain our valuation of 132p/share and believe that if interest rates stabilis

Initial Equity Trading Comments - 19 February 2024

M Winkworth+ (WINK, House Stock at 163p) - Solid FY23A results, well placed to grow

Resilient FY24, confident long-term outlook

Vp’s full year update highlights sector-leading results, once again benefiting from the diversity of its end markets and the quality of its specialist businesses. With results expected to be broadly in line with expectations, we trim our FY24 PBT forecast by c.5% to £39.0m, a shade below the FY23 outturn (£40.2m). We consider this an impressively resilient performance set against a mixed market backdrop. Under new leadership, a strategic refresh is underway and management is confident in long

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 16/04/2024

16th April 2024 * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced Dish of the day Admissions: Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: Reverse Takeovers: Electric Guitar (ELEG.L) Concurrent with its Admission to trading on AIM, Electric Guitar is proposing to acquire the entire issued share capital of 3radical Limited for

AUM up 30% in FY24, record flows, forecasts raised

AUM jumped £3.8bn or +30% in FY24, reaching £16.6bn on 31 Mar 24, 12% above our previous forecast of £14.7bn. Including 50%-owned 8AM Global, Assets Under Influence hit £17.6bn. Investment performance provided a tailwind, adding £1.5bn to AUM. But our key takeaway from Tatton’s hugely impressive last few years, is that it has designed and implemented a superior offering in platform-MPS with net flows consistently far higher than peers. That leadership looks even more pronounced in H2-24 with net