by Nick Britton
Nick Britton
It’s impossible to avoid the subject of Brexit these days. Tedious though many find it, when it comes to VCTs, it seems a salient issue. After all, VCTs invest in small UK companies, filled with promise but fragile. So it’s worth spending a moment or two pondering what the impact might be of a no-deal (‘managed’ or otherwise), May deal, Malthouse compromise, or whatever the latest ruse is they’ve cooked up to try and cobble together a consensus.
We’ve been asking various VCT managers to tackle this question. This month in Spotlight, we bring you a range of views from Calculus Capital, Foresight, Octopus, Triple Point and YFM. It’s not all about Brexit – they also discuss the new rules and where they’re finding opportunities.
Our VCT seminars last month were another chance to gather intelligence on prospects for the sector. For those that couldn’t make it (or even if you did), I’ve drawn together some things I found interesting, particularly around potential risks to VCTs.
The other article in Spotlight this month focuses on China. We’re now three days into the Year of the Pig, which is historically a very good year for investment returns. However, China faces some important challenges, of which the prospect of a full-blown trade war is the most visible. Managers are not particularly hopeful of a swift resolution on this, but they are seeing opportunities amid the turbulence.
We’re currently confirming dates for our training events in 2019 and you’ll hear more details soon. In the meantime, here’s a couple more dates for your diary. Invesco is holding an Investment Trust Conference on Thursday 7 March, with speakers including Edinburgh and PIGIT manager Mark Barnett. And Morningstar’s annual Investment Conference is coming up on 30 April and 1 May – I’ll be speaking about property and infrastructure.
Finally, if you’re looking to sharpen up your VCT knowledge, our friends at Intelligent Partnership have launched a new online training course on VCTs. It’s quite detailed, including 12 separate modules, and usually costs £195 to take: Spotlight readers can get a £50 discount by using the code AIC50.
That’s all for now – see you next month.
Nick Britton, Head of Intermediary Communications, AIC
Please click on the links to book your place.
7 March 2019 Invesco Investment Trust Conference (London) 8.30 – 12.00. Focused on the value of income, this half-day conference at Claridge’s is introduced by broadcaster and journalist Gavin Esler with speakers including Mark Barnett, manager of the Edinburgh and Perpetual Income and Growth investment trusts.
14 March 2019 Morningstar Adviser Forum (Chelmsford) 9.00 – 12.45. Speakers include Nick Britton (AIC), who will discuss using investment companies for retirement income, and Mel Hollman, who will update attendees on the Senior Managers and Certification Regime. See full agenda here.
30 April-1 May 2019 Morningstar Investment Conference Morningstar’s flagship two-day conference has a varied line-up of speakers including Jonathan Ruffer (Ruffer Investment Company), Marcus Phayre-Mudge (TR Property) and Nick Britton (AIC).