Ruffer Investment Company

RICA is available on a small discount for the first time in years…

Global Macro Commentary & Investment Companies Roundup January 2023

• Performance: Atrato Onsite Roof soars as investors look on the bright side. • Premiums and discounts: Investors deserting Pollen Street following dividend cut. • Money in and out: Funds struggle to attract new funding.

Global Macro Commentary & Investment Companies Roundup January 2023

• Performance: Atrato Onsite Roof soars as investors look on the bright side. • Premiums and discounts: Investors deserting Pollen Street following dividend cut. • Money in and out: Funds struggle to attract new funding.

Ruffer Investment Company

RICA is positioned to protect against inflation or a new leg down in equity markets…

Inflation & Investment Trusts - Sep 2022

Inflation has now persisted beyond most people's 2021 expectations for a “short term blip” following the COVID crisis, and investors are increasingly under pressure to generate positive real returns in the first highly inflationary (i.e., >5%) environment since 1991. We expect a degree of asset price volatility to continue across all asset classes for quite some time. In this note we look at the factors behind the current inflationary environment, evaluate which ones are likely to persist and

Ready player one

The last six months may seem like a lifetime to investors, with the jubilation of the post-COVID economy giving way to inflationary blues, and equity markets entering the worst bear market in years. The roller coaster is not over, however, with the Ukrainian crisis yet to be resolved, inflation rampant, and supply chains restricted. Oases have been hard to find. Many real assets, alternatives and infrastructure trusts have managed to generate positive NAV returns. However, as the risk-off ride a

A game of two halves

In the first article of our series examining the AIC Flexible Investment sector, we divided this widely disparate group of trusts into what we think are more comparable sub-groups, identifying four roughly similar types of strategy.

Spider’s web

They say that sharks die if they stop moving. It turns out this is only true of obligate ram breathers such as the great white, many other sharks will be just fine. That said, one of our latest innovations to ensure our site doesn’t go the way of MySpace or Digg is the KTI Spider Chart which we have been steadily rolling out in our notes on individual investment trusts. This is a series of quantitative screens which aim to show how a trust performs versus its peers on what we think are critical

Catch a tiger by the tail

It’s the topic on everyone lips. Yes, Inflation. It is thirty years since the UK has seen inflation at a higher level. Will it subside, or will it persist? Not possessing a crystal ball, this isn’t something we are going to determine here. However, what we will discuss are the various trusts that investors might like to consider as a reaction to this very novel environment. We consider how one might most directly benefit from rising inflation, and potentially protect capital or income in real te

It’s the end of the world as we know it

We examine five potential themes for investors seeking long-term returns in a troubled and uncertain world

Fight or flight

Two of our analysts debate the impact that war in Ukraine could have on investors' portfolios

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

Regional REIT - Dividend rebase pragmatic and sustainable

Regional REIT’s (RGL’s) post-pandemic recovery in new lettings paused in H123, as occupiers adopted a cautious ‘wait and see’ approach, although rents increased and the strong ‘return to the office’ supports RGL’s expectation that leasing will accelerate. With DPS lowered to match reduced income prospects, the shares have fallen sharply, maintaining a sector-high dividend yield. Including asset sales focused on low-income properties, our forecasts show the rebased dividend to be fully covered an

NewRiver REIT+ (NRR, House Stock at 87p) - Credit rating update reinforces balance sheet quality

Henderson Far East Income - Cautious of continued volatility but value on offer

In our last review of Henderson Far East Income (HFEL) in July, Attractive yield despite modest dividend increase, we drew attention to the dividend increase from what is comfortably the highest yielding fund in the AIC Asia Pacific Equity Income sector. It was pleasing to see that in the company’s published full year results to the end of August, the dividends paid by the company were covered and that over £1m was added to the revenue reserves over this period. In this note we examine the drive

LIBERUM: PensionBee: Hitting milestones despite headwinds

NewRiver REIT+ (NRR, House Stock at 85p) - High quality earnings story – upgrade potential

Princess Private Equity Holding - Offering an attractive dividend yield

Princess Private Equity Holding (PEY) posted a year-to-date NAV total return (TR) to end-October 2023 of 4.9%, 2.4% of which was from Q323. PEY’s performance continues to be assisted by portfolio earnings, with last-twelve-month (LTM) revenue and EBITDA growth to end-September 2023 of 16% and 15%, respectively, and sustained healthy average EBITDA margin of 24%. PEY’s balance sheet remains firm with c €134m in undrawn credit facility and €3m in cash, further assisted by the Civica sale proceeds

Initial Equity Trading Comments - 1 December 2023

The Joy of Techs - Cavendish Technology quarterly sector note

£23.3bn in enterprise value has been returned to AIM technology shareholders over the past six years in the form of 51 public to private takeouts, including 10 in 2023 alone with the takeovers of Smoove* and Tribal announced in early October. With UK valuations appearing cheap and looking more attractive to potential acquirers, we take a moment to reflect on the trends of corporate and private equity bidders targeting AIM-listed technology companies going back to 2017, through the uncertainties

NextEnergy Solar Fund - H1/24 interim results and asset recycling update

NextEnergy Storage Fund now has 100 operational assets with a combined installed capacity of 933MW and exclusivity over, or ownership of the project rights for, most of its c£500m pipeline of domestic and international solar and energy storage assets. H1/24 performance was robust, with power generation in line with budget and the 36MW Whitecross solar farm energised. The first sale from the asset recycling programme has been completed post-period, with the proceeds being used to reduce short-ter

NFT INVESTMENTS PLC (NFT PZ) - NAV Rises to 4.3P per share

European Opportunities Trust - Termination of coverage

Edison Investment Research is terminating coverage on European Opportunities Trust (EOT). Please note you should no longer rely on any previous research or estimates for this company. All forecasts should now be considered redundant. Previously published reports can still be accessed via our website.

Impact Healthcare REIT - On track to meet dividend target

Impact Healthcare REIT’s Q323 total return was 2.6%, or 8.5% over the first nine months of the year (9M23). With rent cover continuing to strengthen, rent collection back to 100% and 98% of drawn debt fixed or hedged, the company is well on track to meet its FY23 DPS target of 6.77p (+3.5%), fully covered by adjusted ‘cash’ earnings, with a yield of 8.6%.

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 4 Dec 2023

4th December 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment obje

Utilico Emerging Markets Trust - Emerging market growth opportunities at a discount

Utilico Emerging Markets Trust (UEM) is managed by Charles Jillings, together with deputy portfolio managers Jacqueline Broers and Jonathan Groocock, at specialist investor ICM. Jillings is frustrated by the trust’s wide discount, which he believes does not accurately reflect UEM’s strong past performance and future growth prospects. The fund has a consistently low beta and has outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets Index over the past one, three, five and 10 years due to successful stock select

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.