3i Infrastructure set to exit stake in French green energy firm October 7, 2024 FTSE 250 investment trust 3i Infrastructure is poised to sell its stake in French independent green energy operator Valorem in a deal worth roughly €309m (£258m).
Are REITs on course for a recovery? October 1, 2024 Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have had a tough time over the past two years as central banks hiked interest rates and the property market was plunged into a downturn. Not a single one of the 33 REITs listed in London are currently trading at a premium, with the average share price is sitting on [...]
3i Group: Inside Britain’s biggest retailer you’ve probably never heard of September 24, 2024 £32.5bn investment trust, 3i Group, owns Britain’s biggest retailer: Action. You’ve likely never heard of Action, and that’s because it doesn’t actually operate in the UK, instead having close to 3,000 stores across 12 European countries like Germany, the Netherlands and France. The group is kind of like B&M: Selling items at a low cost, [...]
Meet the fund managers: Biotech investing under the microscope September 23, 2024 In this weekly series, investment reporter Elliot Gulliver-Needham sits down with a fund manager for a Q&A. This week, we’re hearing from Ailsa Craig, co-portfolio manager of International Biotechnology Trust. How does your fund stand out from others in the same market? While many companies in the biotechnology sector are proven, cash-generating businesses, those at [...]
Post-Brexit regulation caused ‘three lost years’ of infrastructure investing September 19, 2024 The outdated post-Brexit regulation around investment trust cost disclosure set the UK back by three years on infrastructure, asset manager Abrdn has revealed. Cost disclosure rules, which required investment trusts to ‘double dip’ their fee reporting, have finally been lifted by the government and the Financial Conduct Authority today, leaving the trust industry overjoyed. “What’s [...]
Investment trusts celebrate move to reform cost disclosure rules September 19, 2024 The UK has finally exempted investment trusts from complying with cost disclosure requirements that industry experts say could unlock billions in investment. In a statement today, the government and Financial Conduct Authority said regulators would temporarily withdraw the requirements, which campaigners have argued force trusts to ‘double count’ their fees. While this is also the [...]
JTC: Profit soars after spate of acquisitions September 17, 2024 Financial services provider JTC has hailed a good start to the year after beating its upgraded guidance after a flurry of acquisitions. The acquisitive fund management firm, which is a FTSE 250 constituent, reported revenue of £147.1m in the six months to 30 June, a 21.1 per cent rise on the year prior. Earnings before [...]
Four investment trusts closed last week. How many more will go? September 16, 2024 Last week, four separate investment trusts handed in their notice, announcing they would be shuttering. Aquila European Renewables, Ecofin US Renewables, Gulf Investment Fund and Keystone Positive Change, all said they would be liquidating, as the number of trusts on the London Stock Exchange continued to dwindle. The number of investment trusts has fallen to [...]
Ditch ‘short-sighted’ share tax and lean on City to back National Wealth Fund, Reeves told September 9, 2024 The Chancellor should axe the “short-sighted” tax on share trading and “sponsor” a set of listed investment vehicles in order to unlock funding for the government’s investment plans, a body of investors has said today. In a call to the chancellor, the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), which represents listed investment trusts in the UK, [...]
Almost 90 per cent of investment trusts are on a discount. When will it change? September 5, 2024 A significant 88 per cent of all investment trusts are now trading on a discount to their underlying assets, City A.M. can reveal. The gap between the share price of investment trusts and the price of their underlying assets has got so bad that 30 per cent of all trusts now trade on a discount [...]