Foreword
By Annabel Brodie-Smith
After a wet start it really was flaming June. The good news is Fabian’s GCSEs are over – a huge sigh of relief! And his elder brother is coming back from his Central America trip today. And it’s not long before it’s our holiday…
“The exciting news is the Investment Company Showcase is back on 9 October at 133 Houndsditch, London and you can attend in person or online.”
The exciting news is the Investment Company Showcase is back on 9 October at 133 Houndsditch, London and you can attend in person or online. We have 30 investment trust managers including our keynote speaker, Job Curtis, manager of City of London Investment Trust. This trust is approaching a record 60 years of dividend increases and Job has been manager for the last 35 years – an impressive record.
Managers are flying over from Japan and India to speak at the Showcase and we are covering a wide range of themes from emerging markets and the hunt for yield to property and infrastructure. We have presentations from Seraphim Space, BlackRock World Mining, Monks, Mercantile, Invesco Bond Income Plus and Cordiant Digital Infrastructure. And it’s free to register for private investors who use the special Compass code, COMP26.
Our political dramas are back and although it’s uncertain whether Harold Macmillan actually ever said “Events, my dear boy, events”, it’s definitely apt. Keir’s reign will soon be over, and Andy Burnham is waiting in the wings. Every word, every black T-shirt and every flutter of his eyelashes is currently being analysed to determine what Andy and ‘Manchesterism’ will mean for the country.
“Ian reassures us that several investment trust fund managers have pointed out that British businesses and shares have survived political uncertainty since the vote to leave the European Union just over a decade ago.”
Luckily, we have our investment guru, Ian Cowie to make sense of what Burnham means for investors. He dives into Andy’s view on the bond market and whether capital gains tax allowances and rates could be brought into line with income tax. However, Ian reassures us that several investment trust fund managers have pointed out that British businesses and shares have survived political uncertainty since the vote to leave the European Union just over a decade ago. He reminds us that investment trusts are “a convenient and cost-effective way to spread our money over many different companies, countries and currencies.” And “economic facts” not “political drama” are more important for investors over the long term.
And sticking with Brexit, a decade on from the vote, I talked to UK managers – James Henderson of Lowland Investment Company, Simon Gergel of The Merchants Trust and Mark Niznik of Artemis UK Future Leaders about the UK post-Brexit. It’s worth tuning in to hear their views and reading our release. The managers all agree that Brexit had a big impact on sentiment. Current concerns include higher inflation pushing up interest rates and the high level of government debt which is leading to taxation on companies. But moving on from doom and gloom, it’s worth listening to their answers to the question – are UK investment trusts well placed for the next decade? Their enthusiasm comes across loud and clear. They mention “valuations being so damn low”, “being able to use the investment trust structure to buy more illiquid assets”, “the ability to smooth dividends”, “the board of directors” and “the ability to gear those returns”.
Finally, after the SpaceX IPO and the scheduled IPOs at Anthropic and OpenAI, there’s a focus on the private companies which could become the next big IPOs of the future. Investment trusts offer retail investors the only way to access private companies during the early stages of their growth.
We asked some private equity managers what they thought were the most exciting companies in their portfolio and got an interesting mix of answers. Steven Tredget of Oakley Capital Investments talked about CuspAI which uses artificial intelligence to help discover new materials. Alan Gauld of Patria Private Equity liked Wundex, a speciality healthcare services business in Germany, which treats complex patient wounds that are hard to heal. And Oliver Gardey of ICG Enterprise Trust mentioned Brooks Automation, a provider of semiconductor manufacturing solutions.
“Investment trusts offer retail investors the only way to access private companies during the early stages of their growth.”
Please don’t forget the Investment Company Showcase – it’s going to be a great event.
I’m ready for my holiday in the south of France where I’m planning to visit markets, eat long lunches and enjoy the view. I’m also taking two weeks off in August at home to relax with my family and Sherlock the dog.
Compass will be back for a new term in September.
Wishing you a wonderful summer!
Annabel Brodie-SmithCommunications Director, AIC
