This week’s topic is LXI Reit (LXI), one of a small band of real estate investment trusts whose raison d’etre is they invest in assets let on long leases. The first to launch in 2014 and by far the largest with a market value of £823 million is Secure Income Reit (SIR). It owns properties that […]
James Carthew: the relentless rise of new income funds Investors are still pouring money into UK property, despite last year’s post-referendum jitters. If we look at the money raised by the investment companies sector in July, I reckon that of £1.2 billion raised, about £500 million was destined for UK property funds. This included new […]
ESO: the private equity fund lighting up an overlooked sector Private equity investment trusts have not been left behind by this year’s stock market rally with their shares up an average 18%. One fund often overlooked in this still neglected sector is EPE Special Opportunities (ESO), an £86 million, AIM-listed, Isle of Man based investment […]
James Carthew: HICL paid high price for Affinity This week’s column was written before the announcement of HICL leading a consortium to buy the HS1 high-speed rail line between London and the Channel Tunnel. My focus this week is on HICL Infrastructure (HICL), a stock that I hold. Briefly, around the beginning of July, its […]
A year ago, how many of you would have thought about investing in European smaller companies? At the time, we were trying to work out the impact of Brexit on the UK and the EU. Commentators were also looking ahead to votes in the Netherlands, France and Germany and worrying whether we were on the […]
There are only two investment companies that focus solely on China: the £1.2 billion Fidelity China Special Situations trust (FCSS) and the £180 million JPMorgan Chinese Investment Trust (JMC). JMC has performed well over the past year, returning 56% in net asset value (NAV) terms and 65% in share price terms. By contrast, FCSS grew […]
From an economic standpoint recent news in the UK has been worrying. House prices are falling and so are retail sales. Inflation has exceeded the Bank of England’s target and so the monetary policy committee is edging closer to raising interest rates. We have a hung parliament and we are just about to embark on […]
Brexit isn’t all bad news for UK property The past couple of weeks have seen a clutch of results announcements by the larger real estate investment (REIT) and property trusts. The periods they are reporting on incorporate the run up to the referendum vote and its aftermath, and adverse changes to the stamp duty regime. […]
John Laing diversifies overseas The last time I dedicated an article to John Laing Infrastructure (JLIF) was back in September 2011. The fund was quite new then having launched at the end of November 2010, although the sector had been around for a while given HICL (HICL) launched in March 2006, followed by International Public […]
Aberdeen Diversified Income & Growth (ADIG) the reincarnation of BlackRock Income Strategies, is now up and running. As yet, although the discount has narrowed a little since launch (currently 7%), there appears to be some way to go before ADIG is ranked alongside competitors such as Personal Assets (PNL), Ruffer (RICA) and Seneca Global Income […]