Trusts, ETFs & Funds

Trusts, ETFs & Funds equity research

Explore the latest equity research for companies within the Trusts, ETFs & Funds sector. Funds in this sector provide investment opportunities via equity and non-equity investment trusts, as well as exchange-traded funds.

Trusts, ETFs & Funds equity research

11 Apr 19

Quarterly Research Outlook

We’re just over three months in to 2019 and we’ve seen a 10% UK market rally, retracing much of the Q4 decline, such is the nature of fickle market sentiment. That said, many of the issues we wrote about three months ago that were impacting markets remain: notably Brexit, trade wars, geopolitics and global monetary policy. The 2019 rally thus far feels somewhat fragile, with competing forces of optimism on a potential trade deal which could underpin the rally, against the deterioration in underlying economic data that could ultimately undermine the recent market gains. In this context, we look at what the lead indicators and the market are telling us about the industrial cycle and the stocks most exposed to various industrial trends. The Q4 derating in short cycle industrials and autos had been vicious and while these sectors have seen a more solid footing in 2019, with earnings downgrades being priced in, it will likely take a trough in lead indicators before short cycle stocks can start to perform again and re-rate relative to the market.

Companies: ARS CYAN HYR LIT SOM ABBY AMS AMER ANX ATYM AVON BLVN PIER BUR CGS CAML CALL CSRT TIDE DTG DEMG EMR FPO FST GTLY GENL GOR GRI GEEC HDY HMI HAYD HEAD HILS HTG HUR IBPO INDI JHD JOG KEYS KCT KGH LAM LOK MACF MNO MANO MOD MKLW OXIG PCA PANR PARK PGM PHC PMO RBW RMM REDD RSW RNO RKH RBGP ROR SUS SCPA SHG SOLG TRAK TRI VNET VTC ZOO ZTF

28 Mar 19

Litigation, litigation, litigation

Within this note we look to build upon our existing legal sector coverage of Anexo*, Gordon Dadds*, Gateley, Knights, Keystone, Rosenblatt and NAHL to include the litigation funders Burford Capital, Manolete Partners and Litigation Capital Management.

Companies: ANX BUR IMF JIL LIT MANO RBGP

15 Apr 19

Diverse Income Trust (The) - Unloved small-caps offer long-term opportunities

The Diverse Income Trust (DIVI) aims to generate a good and growing level of income, as well as capital gains over the long term. It is not constrained by benchmarks and has a wide opportunity set across the market capitalisation spectrum to find high-quality, resilient companies that can sustain dividend growth over the long term. The managers, Gervais Williams and Martin Turner, have a small-cap bias and over two-thirds of the portfolio is outside of the FTSE 350 index. Since its inception in April 2011, the trust has delivered an annualised NAV total return of 12% and consistent growth in its regular dividend. Performance in more recent years has lagged the FTSE All-Share index, which the managers believe reflects small-cap and value stocks being overlooked, and they are finding superior investment opportunities in this segment of the UK equity market.

Companies: Diverse Income Trust

27 Mar 19

Rally seen in the first quarter stalls

Parliamentary and Brexit developments continue to hold centre stage, although the precise path forward remains as unclear as ever. The uncertainty over Brexit, worries over a possible slowdown in the US and the outlook for global economic growth generally have all contributed to the recent falls in markets. While the rally seen since the start of the year has petered out, most indices have still made progress. In Share News & Views we comment on Bloomsbury Publishing, Bonhill Group*, Braemar Shipping Services*, Burford, Clarkson, LightwaveRF*, Marshall Motor Holdings and Synectics*.

Companies: AOR APC BONH BMS CTG CRPR DMTR ESC EUSP FDM FA/ LWRF LSAI NKTN PCF SNX TCN VRE W7L

03 Apr 19

The Monthly April 2019

Although the focus of Hardman & Co is predominantly on companies in the smallto mid-sized market capitalisation range, when writing research reports, it is important to position them relative to the industry in which they operate. Apart from Japanese companies, all the major global pharmaceutical companies have reported full-year results for 2018 over the past few weeks; therefore, we have taken the opportunity to update our industry database and generate the first cut of global rankings for 2018. For an industry that requires a long investment cycle – it still takes, on average, 10 years from discovery to launch of a new drug – decisions made many years ago have important consequences on current financial results. Therefore, looking back at operational performance over 20 years reveals how different company strategies have panned out.

Companies: OPM AVO AJB AGY ARBB CMH CLIG CSH DNL GTLY HAYD KOOV LWRF MCL MUR NSF OXB PCA PHP RE/ REDX STX SCE SIXH TON VAL VTA W7L

08 Jan 19

All rise!

The UK legal service sector looks intrinsically attractive to investors, with its inherent high added-value, resilient growth through all but the very worst of economic times and fragmented nature. Five companies representing about 1% of the huge UK legal sector are all we have seen so far on the UK stock market and this is clearly going to grow, as listed law firms drive home their advantages and expand. Their UK domestic focus has brought share prices under pressure which looks wrong given the outlook, offering a good buying opportunity. We take this opportunity to initiate coverage of Gateley (Corporate) which has achieved great success since IPO but paradoxically trades at an anomalous discount to its peers.

Companies: GTLY BUR DRV MUR GOR KEYS RBGP

13 Dec 18

F&C Investment Trust - Overview

F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) is the world’s oldest investment trust. The 150-year-old behemoth is on course for its 48th consecutive year of dividend increases having paid a dividend every year since launch. Income is not the main focus for the manager, however, and it is positioned to deliver long-term growth in capital via an internationally-diversified portfolio. The portfolio is constructed with inputs from both BMO’s specialist teams and third-party managers and this includes investments in both listed and unlisted securities. The manager, Paul Niven, believes this combination of public and private companies is a key feature of the trust, which help reduce risk and limit the volatility of investment returns. The trust is well diversified across geographies and sectors and the board has not placed any specific geographic or industry sector exposure limits for the publicly listed equities. The largest geographical weighting is to North America (53.3%), followed by Europe ex UK (17.1%) and emerging markets (11%). In terms of listed equity sector exposure, financials make up close to a quarter of the exposure and consumer services (18.2%) and technology (18.1%) also make up considerable portions of the portfolio. Since taking over the trust in 2014, Paul has delivered decent NAV returns, outperforming the benchmark FTSE All World (69.4%) by c.6% and the IA Global sector (55.1%). That said, the trust has underperformed the Morningstar Global closed end peer group by 3%. Over the past two years the trust has seen the discount narrow considerably, to a point where the trust is currently trading on a slight premium (0.2%). Since the start of the year the discount/ premium has ranged between -5.7% and 1.4% and the oneyear average has been -1.6%, marginally narrower than the sector average of -2.5%.

Companies: F&C Investment Trust

30 May 18

LIBERUM: Gresham House* - Inflection point reached

Completion of the FIM acquisition is a milestone achievement. It accelerates profitability and delivers scale, taking AUM to well over the all-important £1bn mark.

Companies: Gresham House

30 Oct 18

Canadian General Investments - Successful active management in Canada

Canadian General Investments (CGI) aims to generate an attractive total return from a portfolio of primarily Canadian equities. Manager Greg Eckel describes the fund as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for investment in Canada. He says that the country is currently out of favour with investors, and equity valuations are reasonable, which may provide an attractive opportunity. While he invests for the long term, Eckel actively manages CGI’s portfolio, seeking to buy companies with attractive fundamentals and long-term growth potential, while adding to or trimming existing positions to maximise returns. This strategy has proved effective, with CGI outperforming its S&P/TSX Composite index benchmark over one, three, five and 10 years. It also offers an attractive dividend yield of 3.5%.

Companies: Canadian General Investments

20 Mar 18

Star struck

The star fund manager culture and its effect on open-ended fund industry has been the subject of debate for many years, frequently making headlines when a high profile manager leaves for pastures new. To try and address the problems associated with key man risk, many fund management groups have pushed the ‘team-based’ approach more in recent years in an effort to soften the blow if a lead manager does change fund management houses The idea being if a manager does depart, investors won’t feel the need to sell out of a fund because they know the team taking over will run it in a similar way. Given their structure of being closed-ended, investment trusts have traditionally been shielded by the effects of key-man risk. However a recent example of a high profile departure at River & Mercantile shows they are not immune. Rather than being swamped with outflows, the River & Mercantile UK Micro Cap Trust saw is share price fall 14.6% and its discount to net asset value (NAV) move from 16.2% premium to a 0.6% as investors hit the panic button after the announcement its lead manager, Philip Rodrigs, had left the group. For Nick Greenwood, manager of the Miton Global Opportunities trust, the large drops the trust has faced since Rodrigs’ departure, represent the risks that investment trusts with key managers can face when those managers leave. “If you have a key manager following, the price that the trusts trades at can be very different to its peers, meaning that if the manager leaves, the price can quickly fall either back into line or below the peer group,” he says. In its 2018 rebalancing of its model portfolio, Winterflood replaced the R&M UK Micro Cap Trust with the JP Morgan-managed Mercantile Investment Trust in the UK equities section of its portfolio for its mid and small cap exposure. Trading at a 9% discount at the time, it felt the Mercantile Investment Trust, which is managed by Guy Anderson, represented a better value opportunity (versus the premium the R&M UK Micro Cap was trading at the time). However after the events that unfolded since Rodrig’s departure, Simon Elliott, a research analyst at Winterflood Investment Trust, says the micro cap fund does offer value versus its nearest peers. He also believes there is a large opportunity in the micro cap segment of the UK market for a genuinely active manager to add considerable value through stock picking. “The fund’s assets of £102m are nearly only 10% below where the board has deemed it appropriate in the past to return capital at NAV,” he says. “It is feasible that the portfolio could generate sufficient growth within the next 12 months to warrant a third return of capital and we would expect this to act as a catalyst in narrowing the discount.” At the same time, while many in the past may have invested in the fund because of the previous manager, its new manager, George Ensor, knows the trust having been involved with its running since launch in December 2014. “As a key member of River and Mercantile’s equity team, Ensor has gained the respect of the team’s leadership and we were impressed with his knowledge of the stocks in the portfolio at a recent meeting,” says Elliott. “Whether this will translate into strong returns, both absolute and relative, will only be proven in time. “However he has a head start given his current knowledge of the portfolio and this is an important, high profile mandate for River and Mercantile, not least as its only listed collective to date.” Meanwhile Greenwood, who never held the fund, says things can work in the opposite way. Namely a badly performing trust can see its discount narrow if it gets taken over by new management. A most recent example of this would be the Aurora Investment Trust. Having been a serial underperformer in the IT UK All Companies sector, since Phoenix Asset Management took over the trust in January 2016 it has undergone a complete transformation under new manager Gary Channon. As such it has moved from a 17% discount in April to 2015 to currently trading at parity, with the trust ranked second article over one and three years. So the movements in discounts can work for and against investment trusts when a high profile manager departs. However what they are not subject to is large outflows thanks to their closed-ended structure meaning any incoming manager does not have to deal with a firesale of assets on day one. In the case of the R&M UK Micro Cap Trust, it would seem after all the negative headlines, many are realising the strength of the team that lay behind the key man and at its current 11.9% discount to NAV could be sensing a buying opportunity.

Companies: RMMC MIGO MRC ARR

09 Mar 18

Keep calm and carry on...

Investment trusts are often the structure of choice during booming markets. The ability to gear, plus the investment freedom of a closed-ended structure allow skilled managers to capitalise on rising share prices. However, the same has not necessarily been true on the way down, as leverage exaggerates losses and discounts widen. This has often been a time to buy, with market volatility providing a chance to buy into good trusts at knockdown rates. Cherry Reynard asks, has the market rout since the start of the year produced any opportunities for value-hunters? There are 28 trusts that have seen their discounts widen by more than 5%* since the start of the year. This appears a mild reaction to the market sell-off. The FTSE 100 was down 7.5% over the same period. Peter Walls, manager of the Unicorn Mastertrust (a fund of investment trusts), said this first bout of volatility, triggered by expectations of higher interest rates in the US, passed much of the sector by unnoticed: “There was some intra-day volatility in some of the more highly geared, specialist funds. Some of the trusts that had enjoyed strong demand from self-directed investors also proved volatile – Fidelity China, Scottish Mortgage and F&C Global Smaller Companies. However, those hoping to pick up cheap opportunities were disappointed.” There were a number of reasons why investment trusts didn’t exhibit panic selling. Notably, companies proved active in buying back shares. Scottish Mortgage, for example, bought back 3,000,000 ordinary shares at a price of 449.34p at the start of March. Walls added: “The boards are aware that discount volatility is not great for shareholders and did their best to manage discounts through this time.” However, while the rout itself did not throw up any conspicuous bargains, it did exaggerate some existing trends among some familiar investment trusts. The first is the weakness of the infrastructure trusts. There were seven infrastructure trusts among those trusts that saw the greatest discount widening over the period. In some cases, the moves were extreme - GCP Infrastructure saw a 9.4% move, while HICL saw an 8.0% move. 3i Infrastructure and John Laing Infrastructure moved from a long-standing premium to a small discount. Infrastructure trusts have long been seen as a ‘bond proxy’ investment and as such, might be expected to suffer on the prospect of rising rates. However, as Walls points out, there were also other factors at work. Concerns over the collapse of Carillion and an increasingly aggressive stance from the Labour Party on PFI have weighed heavily on investors. This has unquestionably led to better value, with discounts at multi-year highs. The question for investors is whether the rising interest rate environment is reflected in current prices, or whether any further inflation shocks could send prices lower still. Simon Moore, senior investment manager at Seven Investment Management (7IM) believes a more fertile ground may be the UK Equity income sector, where sentiment has been dented by Brexit concerns. He says: “There are three investment trusts which stick out where their price has fallen significantly over the last three months. All of these have Neil Woodford/ Mark Barnett connections (make of that what you will): Edinburgh Investment Trust, Perpetual Income & Growth and Woodford Patient Capital. “These have a few UK small caps that have been in trouble, arguably nothing to do with the market sell-off, but each manager have been vocal supporters of UK listed companies despite obvious global pessimism on UK equities post-Brexit referendum. If they are right - and their judgement calls have often been right in the past - then these funds could be rerated.” Moore points out that both managers have styles that will go in and out of favour. Certainly, all three trusts have moved down a long way. Patient Capital has seen its share price total return dip 10.7% and its discount widen 5.4%. Edinburgh Investment Trust hasn’t seen a significant change in its discount, which is hovering around 9%, but its shares are down 8.6%. It is a similar situation with Perpetual Income & Growth, where the shares are down 7.7%, but the discount remains at around 9.5%. Moore says: “It is worth remembering that Patient Capital is a very different fund to either Edinburgh Investment Trust or Perpetual Income and Growth and is not for the faint hearted. Given the nature of some of the companies it invests in, there may well be more ups and downs to come. But the clue is in the name - investors who can afford to be patient may well be rewarded over the long-term." Walls sounds a note of caution, saying that some of the classic equity income type stocks favoured by these two managers are still seeing a difficult time. Some of the outsourcing groups, for example, remain out of favour with investors. Much will depend on whether investors come to believe in the ‘value’ trade, where this type of stock will revert to more normal valuations. The other sector to see some change in ratings among the recent volatility has been the technology and media sector. Of course, this comes after a lengthy expansion in the technology sector, with companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Netflix leading markets higher for much of 2017. Walls says: “A couple of the technology trusts, such as Polar Technology Trust and the Allianz Technology Trust have moved to a small discount. I wouldn’t say they look like bargains.” Walls suggests that some sectors where there should have been bargains – such as UK smaller companies – have not seen any real movement in aggregate and are certainly ‘not exciting for value-minded investors’. That said, some are certainly cheaper than they were: Chelverton Growth trust has taken a hit, for example. The other weak trust has been the River & Mercantile UK Micro Cap, though this dropped following the departure of manager Philip Rodrigs over a ‘conduct issue’. Overall, most trusts have held up well since the start of the year. This reflects well on the sector, which appears to have grown better at managing market downturns. There are opportunities, but these have arisen from issues idiosyncratic to each sector rather than market volatility as a whole

Companies: SMT EDIN PLI WPCT PCT ATT RMMC

30 Jan 19

Best in class

Today, we introduce our investment trust ratings. According to the quantitative screens we have selected in an attempt to highlight the best performers in the closed-ended universe, the trusts discussed here have been the best in their classes over the last five years. We have selected trusts using two different sets of criteria, aiming to identify the top performers for capital growth and for achieving a high and growing income. There are many rating systems for open-ended funds, but no quantitative-based system for investment trusts that is available to the average investor. While we cannot identify trusts which will perform well in the future – past outperformance is no guide to future out-performance – we hope these ratings will highlight the outstanding performers in the closed-ended universe and those managers who have best used the advantages of investment trusts to generate alpha. We are trying to reward consistent and long-term outperformance, and so we have decided to look over a five-year period. All data is as of the end of December 2018, sourced from Morningstar and JPMorgan Cazenove. We have looked at NAV total return performance and discount value has not been considered: the aim is to identify those trusts which have performed the best rather than highlight bargains.

Companies: IPU FAS ATR JEO FEV FGT THRG SEC PAC BRSC IAT HNE MIGO TRY JMG DIVI SLS BGS SDP JETI SOI BCI MRC TIGT EDIN JAI BEE SDV BRIG AAIF HFEL SCF SIGT NAIT BRFI IVPG CTY HINT JCH

15 Feb 19

The Biotech Growth Trust - Industry backdrop remains favourable

The Biotech Growth Trust (BIOG) is managed by Geoff Hsu and Richard Klemm at OrbiMed Capital, one of the leading global healthcare asset managers. The year 2018 proved to be tough for the trust’s performance as biotech companies delivering negative news were heavily penalised, while those delivering good news went unrewarded. However, the managers are optimistic about BIOG’s prospects. They cite a rich industry innovation pipeline that includes a series of technologies with multi-billion-dollar revenue potential; a favourable regulatory environment; and a higher level of deal activity, including major pharma company Bristol-Myers Squibb’s recent bid for Celgene (one of BIOG’s largest holdings) at a significant premium to its pre-bid share price.

Companies: The Biotech Growth Trust

13 Mar 19

Supermarket Income REIT - Targeting further growth

Supermarket Income REIT targets an attractive level of income, with the potential for capital growth, and 7–10% pa total shareholder return over the medium term. It invests in a diversified portfolio of supermarket property, let to leading UK supermarket operators on long, RPI-linked leases. EPRA NAV total return in the six-month period was 3.1% or an annualised 6.3% (see our last update). The company plans to raise c £25m in new equity to part fund additional, identified assets.

Companies: Supermarket Income Reit

26 Mar 19

Standard Life UK Smaller Companies - Following a well-established investment process

Standard Life UK Smaller Companies (SLS) is managed by experienced UK smaller-cap specialist Harry Nimmo. He is somewhat cautious on the near-term outlook for UK equities, citing ongoing Brexit uncertainty, lower US earnings growth and the US/China trade dispute. The manager continues to follow his tried-and-tested investment process, seeking high-quality firms that can grow their businesses regardless of the stage of the economic cycle. He notes that SLS’s portfolio companies are generally trading well, showing good earnings momentum and beating expectations, which he expects will lead to higher dividend payments. The trust currently offers a yield of 1.6%.

Companies: Standard Life UK Small Co's Tst

02 Apr 19

Emmerson Potash Mining

26 Jan 19

International Biotechnology Trust (IBT) Presentation at MELLO London November 2018

11 May 18

Harbourvest - 10 years of success and the future of Private Equity

20 Dec 18

Bitesize briefing – Aberdeen Asian Income Fund

05 Feb 19

Executive interview - Tetragon

19 Nov 18

Executive interview - Canadian General Investments

20 Mar 19

Bitesize briefing - ICG-Longbow SSUP

25 Oct 18

Supermarket Income REIT (SUPR) at ShareSoc October 2018

19 Mar 19

Bitesize briefing - Volta Finance

01 Oct 18

Bitesize briefing - Fidelity Japan Trust

01 Nov 17

Chariot Oil and Gas - Update from 121 Oil and Gas, London

17 Jul 18

John Laing JLEN Capital Markets Day June 2018 Highlights

15 Feb 19

121 Mining, Cape Town - Emmerson - Presentation

22 May 18

Executive interview - Be Heard Group

09 Oct 18

Supermarket Income REIT Investor Overview

Latest Content

EJFI HGT SOHO

Fidante Daily Digest

EJFI – EJF Investments – Investment update | HGT – HgCapital Trust – Purchase of additional stake | SOHO – Triple Point Social Housing – Acquisitions update

View

18 Apr 19
-
-

SLN RWS D4T4 CIC SHG FFWD ROCK MSMN DLAR TPT

Small Cap Feast

Techniplas –global producer and support services company providing highly engineered and technically complex components, making the supply chain to original equipment manufacturers more efficient. FYDec17 rev $515m. Loungers plc—the operator of 146 café/bar/restaurants across England and Wales under the Lounge and Cosy Club brands, announces its intention to seek admission on AIM, offer TBC, expected late April. SDX Energy plc—a North Africa focused oil and gas company, announces its intention to complete a Canadian plan of arrangement under section 192 of the Canada Business Corporations Act and will have shares de-listed from the TSX-V and admitted to trading on AIM. Expected 28 May 2019, anticipated market cap of £76m

View

18 Apr 19
-
-

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Tst Alternative Liquidity Fund

Fidante Daily Digest

SEIT – SDCL Energy Efficiency Income – Results of fundraising | ALF – Alternative Liquidity Fund – Update on proposals

View

17 Apr 19
-
-

MERI HMSF BSIF

Fidante Daily Digest

Merian Chrysalis – Results of fundraising | Highbridge Multi-Strategy – Finals to 31 December 2018 | Bluefield Solar Income – Guernsey Green Fund status

View

16 Apr 19
-
-

Diverse Income Trust

Diverse Income Trust (The) - Unloved small-caps offer long-term opportunities

View

15 Apr 19
-
-

SONG GRN TFIF

Fidante Daily Digest

Hipgnosis Songs – Results of fundraising | Green REIT – Entering a sales process | TwentyFour Income – Proposed fundraising and EGM | RDL Realisation – Portfolio update | CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities – Inquiry update

View

15 Apr 19
-
-

Jupiter Emerging & Frontier Inc

Income objective exceeded

Jupiter Emerging & Frontier Income (JEFI) has outperformed its peer group average since launch. In 2018, JEFI’s exposure to smaller and medium-sized companies and frontier markets acted as a drag on performance, relative to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

View

15 Apr 19
-
-

Jupiter Emerging & Frontier Inc

Income objective exceeded

Jupiter Emerging & Frontier Income (JEFI) has outperformed the average of competing listed emerging markets funds since launch (see page 14). In 2018, JEFI’s exposure to smaller and medium-sized companies and frontier markets acted as a drag on performance, relative to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (the index that JEFI uses as a performance comparator).

View

15 Apr 19
-
-

SONG MERI RESI

Fidante Daily Digest

Hipgnosis Songs – Proposed fundraising | Merian Chrysalis – Portfolio update and placing price | Residential Secure Income – Statement on regulator's report

View