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

Morning Note – 22 April 2024

Benefits of scale set to materialise

Frenkel Topping - Resilient with strong growth potential

FY 2023 was a challenging year for Frenkel with higher interest rates encouraging clients to place money into lower margin money market funds. Despite this, sales grew +32% (supported by recurring revenue +9% and +51% in non-recurring), EBIT margins remained strong at 22% and adj. EPS grew +17% (taking into account the higher number of shares). FY 2024 has seen a solid start to transactional business and there is a strong pipeline of new FUM opportunities both of which support further growth. Wi

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

LSL Property Services (LSL LN) - Transformation & market recovery

2023 results are, as indicated in its February pre-close update, “slightly ahead of market expectations”. Current trading continues to improve, with 1Q24 underlying operating profit up yoy, “reflecting the benefits of the Group’s transformation programme completed in 2023 as well as improving market conditions.” With net cash of £35m at end 2023, the Board approved 7.4p final DPS and £7m buy back.

Henderson Far East Income - Repositioning to raise total returns

Henderson Far East Income (HFEL) has consistently delivered on its objective to provide a rising dividend. However, like many investors, HFEL’s managers overestimated the potential for a post-pandemic rebound in China. The trust’s resultant overweight to Chinese consumer and other cyclicals led to a fall in portfolio revenues and underperformance in the financial year ended 31 August 2023 (FY23). With a view to improving future returns, HFEL’s board has since indicated an increased willingness t

S&U - PBT ahead, encouraging volume trends

S&U reported FY24 PBT of £33.6m, down from £41.4m in FY23 on higher funding and regulatory costs and higher impairments in Advantage in H2. PBT was 2% ahead of our forecast as stronger revenues – up 12% to £115.4m – and better costs offset higher-than-expected impairments. Net receivables grew to a record at both Advantage and Aspen and management noted particular strength in Q4 and a good trading environment in the current year. Having absorbed a significant rise in funding cost as well as addi

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

Foresight Solar Fund - Termination of coverage

Edison Investment Research is terminating coverage on ABC Arbitrage (ABCA), paragon (PGN), Foresight Solar Fund (FSFL), Kendrion (KENDR), Lithium Power International (LPI), Triple Point Energy Transition (TENT), 4iG (4IG), e-therapeutics (ETX), Pharnext (ALPHA) and Shield Therapeutics (STX). 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 web

International Public Partnerships - Consistently and responsibly delivering

International Public Partnerships’ (INPP’s) FY23 results show that it continues to deliver consistent and predictable returns for investors, while delivering environmental and social benefits for the individuals and communities that are served by its assets. Despite this strong performance and a substantial need for private infrastructure funding, the macroeconomic environment has weighed on INPP’s share price, in common with the wider sector. Regardless, attractive returns are available from th

LIBERUM: PensionBee: Strong start to the new financial year

LIBERUM: NewRiver: Q4 trading update: Continued operational momentum

Regional REIT - Performing as expected ahead of refinancing

In a challenging market, Regional REIT’s (RGL’s) FY23 operational and financial performance was robust, in line with expectations and previous guidance. Investor focus remains on the company’s loan to value (LTV) reduction and bond refinancing plans, explored in detail in our previous note and RGL will provide an update on this in due course.

Witan

Business as usual for WTAN’s executive team, while the board reviews investment management arrangements…

LIBERUM: PayPoint: On track for £100m of EBITDA in FY 26