By Annabel Brodie-Smith
I’m thrilled that we have a new contributor to Compass this month, namely Ian Cowie. Ian is one of the most experienced investment journalists and has been an investor and supporter of investment companies for 25 years.
He is currently entertaining readers of The Sunday Times with a weekly account of his investments and it’s exciting he’s going to be sharing with us his personal experiences of investing in investment companies.
In his first piece for the AIC he tells us how he found his way to investment companies a quarter of a century ago with a £25 monthly investment in Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust’s saving scheme.
This month we’re taking a look at the Private Equity investment company sector which is often overlooked by investors but has a long track record of actively investing in unquoted companies to help create value.
You can watch me interview Andrew Lebus of Pantheon International and Richard Hickman of HarbourVest Global Private Equity to find out what is private equity and what it offers to investors.
Private equity has performed very strongly over the last 5 years and although the sector had a tough financial crisis, it is up 87% over 10 years.
The Private Equity sector currently trades on a 13% discount whereas the average investment company discount is now 2%.
Our article featuring the private equity investment company managers explains where they are finding opportunities, how they add value and the steps they have taken after the financial crisis.
In addition, Felix Haldner of Princess Private Equity gives a succinct explanation of Princess Private Equity’s global private equity strategy. Princess invests in a wide range of companies from US early learning centres to an operator of gas infrastructure in Mexico.
Interestingly, if we go back to Ian Cowie’s first investment, Foreign & Colonial, it currently has 7% exposure to unquoted companies (private equity) and has been investing in unquoted companies since the 1940s.
You can find out more about investment companies from the Global and Flexible Investment sectors which add a pinch of spice to their portfolios by having some exposure to private equity in our article. This includes comments from Scottish Mortgage, Caledonia and British Empire.
Have a great month and hope you enjoy some autumnal cheer.
Annabel Brodie-Smith Communications Director, AIC
