By Ian Sayers
Ian Sayers, Chief Executive
Welcome to ‘Beacon’, the AIC’s new newsletter for investment company directors. In each edition, we will look at some of the issues of the moment in the investment company sector, offering our own and external viewpoints.
In this edition, we take a look at directors’ fees with Richard Clarke of Trust Associates, KIDs and Chair tenure. Please click on the ‘Contents’ tab at the top of the page to see chapter headings so that you can dip in and out according to what interests you most. Please do let me know if there are topics which you would like to see covered in future editions.
2018 has been another positive year for the investment company sector, with assets reaching all-time highs yet again, approximately doubling since 1 January 2013 and growing faster than open-ended funds. Average discounts remain close to all-time lows, barely widening despite market setbacks in October. After a slow start, fundraising picked up sharply in the second half of the year, with October seeing the strongest month for 5 years, when more than £2bn was raised. The total for the year now stands at over £7.5bn.
Whether this strong run can continue next year in light of Brexit and other uncertainties remains to be seen, but with interest rates at historically very low levels and the demand for alternative (and often illiquid) assets still high, the drivers of recent success remain very much in place.
The AIC will not be sending Christmas cards (electronic or otherwise) this year, but instead will be making donations to three local and national charities chosen by the AIC staff. Which means that it only remains for me to wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Ian Sayers Chief Executive T: 020 7282 5612 E: Ian.Sayers@theaic.co.uk