The Gabelli Value Plus+ Trust is a differentiated US equity portfolio with a very high active share and a wide-ranging all-cap approach focused on identifying companies wihch the managers believe are undervalued, including an element of exposure to companies which are the target of mergers and acquisitions. Gabelli is a well known name in the United States, managing assets in excess of $40bn and the trust taps into the ‘Private Market Value (PMV) with a Catalyst’ investment strategy, developed by founder Mario Gabelli in the 1970s, which is now taught as part of the value investing course at Columbia Business School. Whilst there is no guarantee that this can be replicated in future the strategy has delivered significant outperformance relative to the wider US market over the long term, delivering ‘up’ years in 35 out of 40 between 1977 and 2016. Launched in February 2015, the Gabelli Value Plus+ Trust (GVP) had kept pace with the notoriously slippery S&P 500 index until the start of 2017 – outperforming it by a small margin – but fell behind last year as the index, and in particular mega-caps toward which the trust is underweight, raced ahead. However GVP’s managers don’t benchmark themselves against an index and, instead, aim for absolute returns typically to the tune of inflation plus 10%. The strategy which the trust mirrors tends to generate its relative outperformance in falling markets and has since inception – typically – lagged behind during quarters where the market has risen strongly, whilst outperforming the market when it has been in negative territory. Whilst it may underperform should mega caps rally again - having relatively low exposure to the largest US stocks - the managers believe the trust stands to benefit from increased M&A activity in the US, as companies onshore their money in the wake of President Trump’s tax changes, and from a positive outlook for domestically focused US stocks – which are a core focus for the trust.