Temple Bar – Foundations for success

We are now more than three years into the tenure of Ian Lance and Nick Purves as managers of the Temple Bar Investment Trust. In that time, the Redwheel team has aimed to establish a well-diversified portfolio of value-orientated holdings, which it says is positioned for a long-overdue reversion to more normal market conditions, after a decade of what the managers believe was exceptional economic policy and quantitative easing. They say that slowing growth and stubborn inflation in the UK have w

The Hardman & Co Monthly: September 2023

Feature article: Equity Income – UK or Global? Should investors widen their horizons? Introduction: ► The UK Equity Income sector (UKEI) is the fourth-largest investment company (IC) sector in the Association of Investment Companies’ (AIC) universe, with £12.5bn of assets (as at August 2023), and is the traditional home for investors looking for income in the equity market. ► The UKEI not only provides investors with a better dividend yield than the ge

Hardman & Co Insight: Equity Income – UK or Global? Should investors widen their horizons?

Introduction ► The UK Equity Income sector (UKEI) is the fourth-largest investment company (IC) sector in the Association of Investment Companies’ (AIC) universe, with £12.5bn of assets (as at August 2023), and is the traditional home for investors looking for income in the equity market. ► The UKEI not only provides investors with a better dividend yield than the general UK market, but also has a strong track record of dividend growth. Indeed, many funds feature on the AIC’s “dividend heroes”

Temple Bar – True Colours

We are quickly approaching year three of Temple Bar’s rehabilitation under the new management of Redwheel, who took over the fund in November 2020. While sticking to its value-seeking roots, managers Ian Lance and Nick Purves favour a more balanced approach than the deep value model employed by the fund’s previous manager, which had been a drag on performance through the growth dominated decade that followed the GFC. So far, the change has paid off handsomely, with the shares up 76% since the h

Temple Bar – True Colours

We are quickly approaching the third anniversary of Redwheel’s appointment as the manager of Temple Bar in November 2020. While sticking to its value-seeking roots, managers Ian Lance and Nick Purves favour what they describe as a more balanced approach than the deep value model employed by the fund’s previous manager, which had been a drag on performance through the growth dominated decade that followed the GFC. So far, the change seems to have paid off handsomely, with the shares up 76% since

Temple Bar - Time to shine

It is coming up to two years since Redwheel took over management responsibility for Temple Bar (TMPL), and performance figures (see page 9) show that the change has proven to be a good decision for the trust. Of course, the change in investor appetite from growth to valuestyle investing has helped it along its way, but the willingness of the managers – Ian Lance and Nick Purves - to go against the trend (by buying cyclical businesses at the lows, for example) shows the importance of stock-pickin

Temple Bar - Time to shine

It is coming up to two years since Redwheel took over management responsibility for Temple Bar (TMPL), and performance figures since (see page 9) suggest that the change has been a good one for the trust. The apparent change in investor appetite from growth to value-style investing has helped it along its way, but the willingness of the managers – Ian Lance and Nick Purves - to go against the trend (by buying cyclical businesses at the lows, for example) shows the importance of stock-picking too

No compromise

The turnaround in TMPL’s fortunes following the appointment of RWC as manager and a surge in ‘value’ stocks on hopes of an end to the pandemic has been dramatic. Frustratingly, the trust’s discount widened from the middle of April 2021, as investors fretted about the impact of new variants and switched back to buying ‘growth’ companies for their perceived ability to thrive even in a lacklustre economy. TMPL’s managers – Ian lance and Nick Purves – are keen to highlight that value and poor qualit

No compromise

The turnaround in Temple Bar (TMPL)’s fortunes following the appointment of RWC as manager last November and a surge in ‘value’ stocks on hopes of an end to the COVID-19 pandemic has been dramatic. Frustratingly, the discount that the trust’s shares trade on relative to their net asset value widened from the middle of April 2021, as investors fretted about the impact of new variants of the virus and switched back to buying ‘growth’ companies for their perceived ability to thrive even in a lacklu

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.

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.

BlackRock World Mining

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

Morning Note – 18 April 2024

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.

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

NextEnergy Solar Fund – High- and growing-income opportunity?

NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF) is almost 10 years old. Since launch, it has built a £1.2bn, 933MW portfolio of 100 operating solar assets, powering the equivalent of over 330,000 homes, declared dividends totalling £333m, and avoided the emission of about 2.2 Mt CO2e. NESF is on track to pay 8.35p in dividends, with forecast dividend cover of about 1.3x. Share price weakness that has afflicted the whole sector means that dividend translates to a yield of 11.1%, one of the highest in its sector, a

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

Initial Equity Trading Comments - 19 February 2024

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

Hybridan Research: Sector Review: Artificial intelligence in UK cybersecurity: the human uplift 17/04/2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a double-edged sword in cybersecurity. Whilst new AI models, architectures, and innovations are emerging to protect the security posture of organisations, attackers are also benefiting from deepfakes, sophisticated phishing, and automation of malicious codes. To ensure the impact of AI on cybersecurity to be a net-positive, we need to pit good AI against bad AI. Point solutions enhanced with machine learning: Global cybersecurity has been built with point soluti

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