Listed Private Equity funds have delivered strong returns in the last few years, but despite this most are still trading on double-digit discounts. Many investors have been reluctant to return after the poor performance during the 2008 financial crisis, although the fundamentals across the sector are now much stronger. Private Equity funds are investment trusts…
Since the financial crisis we have had a decade of virtually zero interest rates that has resulted in a high and potentially unsustainable level of global debt. This now stands at £168 trillion or 327% of world GDP, compared to 276% before the 2007 meltdown. The cheap and readily available liquidity has pushed up asset…
The 2008 financial crisis may seem like a distant memory, but the ongoing ramifications are still a massive threat to your wealth. Concerted intervention by the world’s most powerful central banks managed to avert an immediate global meltdown, although we’re all going to pay the price in the form of higher inflation. The historically low…
The Personal Assets Trust (LON:PNL) is one of the best defensively orientated investment trusts on the market and it has just released its annual results for the year ended 30th April. Over the course of the financial year the fund’s net asset value (NAV) increased by 10.2% on a total return basis, or 8.6% if…
A few weeks ago I wrote about a buying opportunity for CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities, which is a highly unusual fund that invests in catastrophe insurance bonds. A similar opening has now become available on the other investment trust that provides exposure to this area, the Blue Capital Alternative Income Fund (BCAI). BCAI was launched in…
A few weeks ago I wrote about the mixed fortunes of the peer-to-peer investment trusts with the poor performance of P2P Global Investments (LON:P2P), the largest fund in the sector, prompting the Board to initiate a review of its investment management arrangements. The Board has now concluded its investigation and has announced that the investment…
There are not many funds that are capable of delivering decent returns regardless of the wider market, with one of the few exceptions being Crystal Amber (LON:CRS). The £230m investment trust has a very small retail following, although many people will have an exposure to it via the Woodford Equity Income fund as Neil Woodford’s…
Normally you would expect the best performing investment trusts in a particular segment of the market to trade on the tightest discounts or largest premiums, but there are other factors that can distort the situation. A case in point is the Fundsmith Emerging Equities Trust (LON:FEET), which is run by the controversial Terry Smith. Recent…
Tougher regulatory requirements that were introduced following the financial crisis have reduced the willingness of the banks to lend to UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This has created a lucrative gap in the market that a number of closed-ended funds aimed at income investors have sought to take advantage of. A good example…
On the fifth of March 2009 the Bank of England reduced interest rates to the supposedly emergency level of 0.5%, and then cut them again last August to restore confidence after the Brexit referendum. The accommodative monetary policy has provided enormous support for those looking for capital growth, but it’s been a torrid time for…
