STS Global Income & Growth

STS’s balance between quality income and growth may prove resilient in a challenging economic environment…

STS Global Income & Growth

STS’s focus on optimising the balance between quality income and growth may prove valuable in an uncertain market environment…

Economic and Political Monthly Roundup January 2023

A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairs and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the companies mentioned.

Economic and Political Monthly Roundup January 2023

A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairs and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the companies mentioned.

Securities Trust of Scotland

STS’s high-quality global equity income approach has proven resilient over both the long and the short term…

Securities Trust of Scotland - Termination of coverage

Edison Investment Research is terminating coverage on Riber (ALRIB), Gemfields Group (GEM), Securities Trust of Scotland PLC (STS), Gresham House Strategic (GHS), La Doria (LD) and Studio Retail Group (STU). 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.

Securities Trust of Scotland

A high conviction, high-quality approach to global equity income investing

The dividend dilemma

We examine the trade-off between earning a current high dividend yield and growing future dividends

Securities Trust of Scotland - Compounding over time

Securities Trust of Scotland (STS) has been managed by James Harries and Tomasz Boniek of Troy Asset Management (Troy AM) since November 2020, when the board passed this mandate to Troy AM. The fund is structured and managed to produce consistent compounded returns with below average market volatility throughout the cycle. Troy AM’s cautious approach has resulted in a steady mid-term performance. Since launch in November 2016, the Trojan Global Income Fund (STS’s strategy, launched and run by Ja

Securities Trust of Scotland - Overview

Securities Trust of Scotland (STS) has recently undergone a change in investment manager. No longer run by Mark Whitehead and the Martin Currie team, it is now in the hands of Troy Asset Management and will be managed by James Harries. James is lead manager of Troy’s Trojan Global Income Fund and investors should expect STS to follow a similar strategy, though it will ultimately retain its original objective: to achieve rising income and long-term capital growth. James aims to invest in a manner

Securities Trust of Scotland - The Trojan horse

Securities Trust of Scotland (STS) has had an eventful 2020. Following a competitive selection process, the board appointed Troy Asset Management (Troy AM) as investment manager in September, having served protective notice on Martin Currie in June, following the resignation of former manager Mark Whitehead. The trust is retaining its combined income and long-term capital growth investment objective, while adding a sustainability twist. STS’s board has reset the dividend to what it believes to b

Securities Trust of Scotland - High-conviction portfolio of quality companies

Securities Trust of Scotland (STS) aims to generate income and long-term capital growth through a bottom-up approach to investing in global equities. The manager, Mark Whitehead, focuses on quality companies with an ability to sustain dividend growth, to build a relatively concentrated portfolio of 35–55 high-conviction stocks. In his view, this approach is naturally aligned with selecting companies that score highly on ESG issues. Since Whitehead’s appointment, and the adoption of the mandate,

Full house

This time last year the team at Kepler Trust Intelligence (KTI) chose their personal ‘top picks’ within the investment trust universe for 2019. The aim was for each member of the team to choose the trust they believed would perform best from an investor’s point of view; i.e. in share price terms rather than NAV. Any trust could be selected, regardless of whether it was equity-focused or not. Overall the year was a prosperous one for those brave enough to hang on throughout. The MSCI World Index

Molten Ventures - Making progress on its realisation agenda

Molten Ventures has recently completed the exits from Perkbox, Endomag and Graphcore. This translates into more than £70m realisation proceeds, which means Molten is on track to reach the £100m that management expects for FY25. As a result, Molten has announced a £10m buyback programme (starting on 26 July), in line with its recently updated capital allocation policy of earmarking at least 10% of realisation proceeds for share repurchases. Molten has also agreed a new £180m debt facility that re

LIBERUM: Ramsdens Holdings: Solid H1 and trading conditions on an improving trend

Balancing act

Over the past three years, trusts with blended approaches rather than a strong tilt to growth or value have been at or near the top of the pack across the developed equities sectors, benefitting from their flexibility in a period of extreme style gyrations.

Jarvis Securities - In line with expectations in a challenging year; Skilled Person enquiry ongoing

Today's announcement from JIM reflects a year which saw challenges both in underlying terms and in relation to the ongoing Section 166 process. Trading volumes have remained under pressure against a choppy economic backdrop. Voluntary requirement (VREQ) restrictions placed on “Model B” clients have led to a reduction in client numbers in this category, although numbers have remained stable since the Q3 completion of assessments. The company did benefit from rising interest rates, a significant p

Ruffer Investment Company - Overview

Ruffer Investment Company (RICA) is designed to achieve positive annual total returns (after expenses) of at least twice the Bank of England base rate. The trust invests internationally across a range of asset classes, seeking to hold both growth and protective strategies in an appropriate balance with the aim of generating consistent positive returns and avoiding losses over rolling 12-month periods. RICA consists of pools of assets designed to provide different return profiles in various envir

BlackRock World Mining

BlackRock World Mining (BRWM) is a specialist trust offering exposure to mining and metals companies globally. A number of themes have coalesced in the last couple of years to provide a strong tailwind to the sector. Despite short term volatility, profitability, dividends and sentiment towards mining companies and BRWM have all improved significantly. In our recent meeting with the managers, they expressed their firm opinion that the tailwinds are still entrenched and gave a positive outlook.

CT Private Equity

CTPE’s portfolio represents a tangibly different opportunity…

Triple Point Social Housing REIT - Robust base and capital deployment options

Triple Point Social Housing (SOHO) reported solid H123 results. With borrowing costs fixed, growth in indexed rental income partly offset the impact of credit loss provisions against its two unperforming tenants. Progress is being made in resolving these issues, and as there is no read-across to the wider portfolio, we forecast full dividend cover through FY24. Meanwhile, with the demand for specialised supported housing remaining strong, SOHO has entered a partnership with one of the leading pr

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 07/07/23

Joiners: No joiners today. Leavers: Medica Group plc has left the Premium Segment of the Main Market. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?** Blackpoint Biotech plc, a medical cannabinoids company established to fulfil gaps in the medical cannabis market by creating products that provide fast onset of action and accurate dosing, intends to join intends to join the Access Segment of the AQSE Growth Market. Expected Admission 20 July 2023. Metals One Plc, a company focusing on acquiring natural resou

Resilient earnings

The third-quarter results showed resilient net interest margins and benign asset quality trends, thus enabling the management to target a more than decent 14% RoTE. The expected imminent recovery in house prices, if correct, is good news for the future evolution of the cost of risk.

Oakley Capital Investments – Getting down to business

In spite of what seems like an uncertain macroeconomic environment, Oakley Capital Investments’ (OCI) underlying portfolio continued to generate earnings growth in 2023 (average 14% EBITDA growth), which in turn helped drive 4% NAV growth. In addition, OCI achieved an 18% total shareholder return (TSR) during the period, extending the long run of performance delivered by the company (five-year TSR CAGR of 24%). The same macro uncertainty may also be creating opportunities. OCI’s investment mana

Bluefield Solar Income Fund – Fundamentals shine despite discount

The manger comments that, in common with the other trusts in the renewable energy sector, the last six months have continued what has been a challenging period for the Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF). It adds that the trust’s ongoing fundamental performance has failed to reverse a steady slide in its share price which began back in May 2023. Despite this, it says the company has continued to deliver solid NAV growth and market-leading shareholder distributions thanks to a range of contractual

Jarvis Securities - Q1 DPS announcement pending eventual completion of Skilled Person Report

Today's RNS from JIM is brief and economical as they generally are in terms of the quarterly DPS announcement and announces what would appear to be a prudent number, 1.75p. This marks a return to payment of the DPS after Q4-2023, when no dividend was paid.

Vector Capital - Full year results illustrate challenging backdrop; dividend maintained

Vector Capital is an established commercial lending group, focused on secured short-term and bridging loans in the property sector. This morning, the group has reported full year results to 31 December 2023, illustrating the challenging market backdrop. While underlying trading was robust, with good demand being seen for new loans, provisions for bad debts relating to historical loans of £728k in the year led to a decrease in PBT to £2.1m (WHI est. £2.4m, FY22 £2.8m). Looking ahead, although VCA

Strong business momentum across portfolio

Real progress towards significant value generation