Most investment trusts normally trade at a discount to their underlying Net Asset Value (NAV), but there are one or two where the manager is so highly regarded that the shares generally change hands at a premium. A prime example is the £860m Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (LON:FGT), which is managed by Lindsell Train.…
There are plenty of financial forecasts knocking around at this time of year, but the most entertaining are the 10 deliberately outrageous predictions from Saxo Bank. These are intended to flag up the outlier events with the most potential to move the markets. You can read them all here. The one that caught my eye…
Good morning Vietnam Adventurous investors who want to target countries with the highest growth potential might want to think about opening a position in Vietnam. This South-East Asian frontier market has largely been ignored as a source of investment returns, but it looks as though things are about to change as more people wake up…
Time to dust off the crystal ball It’s that time of year again when the experts stick their heads above the parapet and go public with their predictions for the year ahead. I have mixed views about these sorts of forecasts as it is easy to read too much into them, but if you approach…
Since the financial crisis of 2007-09 the banks have pulled back from some of their traditional lending activities and left a gap in the market that others have been able to take advantage of. A prime example is loans to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), with many of these organisations having to look elsewhere…
The fund manager sticking to his disciplined approach Neil Woodford is probably the best known fund manager of his generation – so when he left Invesco Perpetual in January 2014 to set up his own firm it created a massive dilemma for the company. They responded by appointing Mark Barnett as his replacement, and he…
The Personal Assets Trust (LON:PAT) has just released its interim accounts for the six months to the end of October. It is one of the most cautiously positioned investment trusts on the market, yet has an excellent long-term track record, so it is well worth having a close look at the manager’s latest update. Sebastian…
There are lots of factors to consider when investing in a fund, but it’s important not to overlook the way it is structured. An investment trust operates in a completely different manner to an open-ended fund such as an OEIC or unit trust and there are times when this can have a significant bearing on…
The latest annual report from the British Empire Trust suggests that there is significant potential for further strong long-term returns. Here’s why… A few weeks ago I wrote about the improvement in performance at the British Empire Trust (LON:BTEM), which can be traced back to when Joe Bauernfreund took over as lead manager in October…
You may have seen the pictures on the weekend news of Theresa May jetting off to India to smooth the way for the negotiation of the UK’s first post-Brexit trade deal. Ahead of her trip she described her destination as a leading power in the world. One of the best ways to benefit from the…
