One of the most unusual property investment trusts is the Tritax Big Box REIT (LON:BBOX), which invests in warehouses for large blue-chip clients. It has delivered strong returns since the launch in 2013 and expects a further boost from Brexit as more companies look for UK warehouse facilities to avoid the new border controls. BBOX…
RIT Capital Partners (LON:RCP) delivered a solid NAV total return of 8.2% last year and remains defensively positioned. It is chaired by Lord Rothschild and aims to deliver long-term capital growth, whilst preserving shareholders’ capital. Since it was launched in 1988 the fund has achieved the impressive feat of participating in 75% of market upside,…
It has been a strong year for BlackRock World Mining (LON:BRWM) with a NAV return of 24% in 2017. The performance has been driven by the pick-up in global economic growth, and sentiment towards the fund is finally starting to improve after a significant write-down in 2013 dented investor confidence. If the economic recovery continues…
The way the markets have started 2018 suggests that we have entered a new phase of heightened volatility with plenty of downside risk. Investors who are uncomfortable with this environment may want to protect their capital by increasing their exposure to some of the more defensively positioned funds. These use a variety of strategies to…
One of the attractions of investment trusts is that in many cases the fund manager stays in place for years and this continuity increases the likelihood of consistent performance. Recently however, there have been a number of high profile departures that have forced investors to decide whether to stay put or move their money elsewhere.…
At times of extreme market stress, investment trusts tend to behave more like equities than funds, with the prevailing sense of nervousness driving their prices well beyond their underlying net asset values. This discount volatility creates both an extra source of risk as well as a potential opportunity. Whenever the market experiences a sharp sell-off…
The threat of a hard Brexit has held back the performance of domestically orientated UK stocks and created a value opportunity for those who believe that the economy will withstand all the business and political uncertainty surrounding the negotiations. If you share this view you might want to consider the Aurora Investment Trust (LON:ARR). This…
Despite all the dire threats and warnings 2017 turned out to be another strong year for the markets with each of the main equity regions posting healthy gains. The most profitable areas to invest in were the Far East and the Emerging Markets with 11-month returns to the end of November of 27% and 21%…
Two funds operating in the listed infrastructure sector have announced that they have significant exposure to Carillion through the subcontracting of facilities management services on Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects and public-private partnerships (PPP). They have recently provided details about how they will be affected by the compulsory liquidation of the company. The biggest potential…
Traditionally investors have been able to diversify fairly simply by using a mixture of bonds and equities, but with the world’s central banks starting to reduce liquidity there is a good chance that both asset classes will weaken in unison. Many alternatives also look vulnerable, which creates a major challenge for fund investors who want…
