Prices and Markets

Henderson Diversified Income Trust – Death rattle for bull market After a serious wobble in the last few months of 2018, the resurgence in markets that we have seen in 2019 may be the death-rattle of what is now a 10-year bull market. The managers of Henderson Diversified Income (HDIV) have been warning that markets are heading for falls as the economic cycle turns, and that we are likely to slip back into a prolonged period of low-no growth and low-to-no...

With a cloud hanging over emerging markets, and adverse sentiment overriding strong micro-economic fundamentals, Premier Global Infrastructure Trust (PGIT) had a testing 2018. However, it has made an excellent start in 2019. Premier Global Infrastructure Trust – Quick out of the blocks in 2019 In the first two months of the year, aided by the gearing provided by its zero dividend preference shares, PGIT has made 20.6% in NAV total return terms and 20.1% in share price total return terms. The MSCI World Utilities Index returned 3.1%. Earnings growth for...

Sareum’s investment case stands on two pillars: the development by licensee Sierra Oncology of the Chk1 inhibitor, SRA737; and the development and potential licensing of internally-generated TYK2 candidates for autoimmune disease and cancer.... Read more This year should see the first clinical data on SRA737, as well as further data from preclinical studies, that may support a valuation uplift. Preclinical data on SRA737 in combination with low-dose gemcitabine and an anti-PD1 antibody in small cell lung cancer are due at...

QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – March 2019 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of February 2019. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. JPMorgan Chinese, Fidelity China and Pacific Horizon benefited from a booming Chinese market in February. This was mainly due to increased investor optimism in US-China trade relations. Pershing Square’s price rose after it announced it would pay dividends. Healthcare...

QuotedData’s economic roundup – March 2019 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the companies mentioned. Kindly sponsored by Polar Capital. Roundup In February, stocks were quite volatile but developed markets edged up a little, extending...

Geiger Counter - Nuclear exposure Geiger Counter (GCL’s) managers see the potential for further recovery in the uranium price, as more nuclear reactors come on line (particularly in China and India, where governments are keen to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions) while major producers hold off from reactivating mothballed mines (a low uranium price has seen a lot of uranium mining capacity removed from the market – see Figure 4 on page 7). This should help broaden the recovery in uranium stocks...

John Laing Environmental Assets Group – Life extensions to boost NAV? John Laing Environmental Assets Group (JLEN) says its NAV per share at the end of December 2018 was 102.8p, up 2.4p over three months. The quarterly dividend payments remain on-track to match the target of 6.51p for the year. The company’s revenue generation was on budget, reflecting above-budget power generation from JLEN’s anaerobic digestion and solar power assets. This offset the negative impact on generation from low wind speeds on its wind...

Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income – Poised to expand? Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income (ASLI) has built a portfolio of 10 assets, invested all the money it raised at IPO and has declared dividends totalling 3p per share in respect of its first accounting period (in-line with its target). Borrowing facilities are being arranged that will fund the purchase of one more asset and meet stage payments for construction projects that it has agreed to finance. The growth of online shopping in Europe is...

Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust – Quality businesses at sensible prices Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust (MTE) is an investment trust that has a focused portfolio of growing companies selected for the quality of their business franchise, management, earnings and corporate structure. Over time, this emphasis on quality has stood it in good stead, especially in periods where investors become increasingly nervous, as has been the case recently. The result is that MTE is the best-performing European smaller companies trust by some margin (see...