Prices and Markets

Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – Third Quarter 2018 Global equities delivered positive returns over the third quarter of 2018.  This was principally because of strength in the US market. Political uncertainty and concerns about global trade held back other regions. Generally, government bond yields rose over the quarter. The UK equity market fell as the Bank of England increased interest rates and concerns built over the lack of a Brexit deal. This latter point contributed to sterling weakness. Discounts have been volatile...

QuotedData’s Economic round up – October 2018 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.  October Economic and Political Roundup OVERVIEW September was notable for a continued upward move in the oil price, which...

QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – October 2018 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 September 2018. October Investment Companies Roundup MONEY RAISED AND RETURNED IN SEPTEMBER Trian Investors 1 is a new fund that will adopt an activist approach, targeting an, as yet unidentified, company. In September, we said goodbye to John Laing Infrastructure (following the bid by Dalmore Capital and...

Aberdeen New Dawn (ABD) has been using recent falls in Asian markets to reduce its underweight exposure to China (Chinese stocks dominate ABD’s benchmark). The manager has become more comfortable with the Chinese market (see page 13) and has demonstrated its ability to pick stocks, delivering strong outperformance from its open-ended fund focused on the China A share market; this fund forms part of ABD’s portfolio (see page 9). In recent years, ABD’s performance relative both to its peer group...

The managers of Henderson Diversified Income (HDIV) are increasingly cautious on markets. Co-manager, John Pattullo, went as far as to quote the famous “Winter is coming” line from ‘Game of Thrones’ in his latest blogpost. Not only are HDIV’s managers convinced that the upward phase of this economic cycle is drawing to a close but also that inflation, which has been on a rising trend in recent times, is nearing its peak. They say that we remain in an environment...

Seneca Global Income & Growth Trust’s (SIGT’s) manager, is gradually reducing the trust’s equity weighting over the next couple of years, in advance of a global recession it expects in 2020. Consistent with its view, the recent trend in developed economies has been one of falling unemployment, labour markets tightening, wage rates edging up and emerging signs that consumer prices are also on the rise. SIGT’s manager expects inflation to continue to rise, triggering a response from central banks, including in some...

QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – September 2018 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 August 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. September Investment Companies Roundup Money raised and returned in August GRIT Real Estate Income floated on the UK Stock Exchange in August. Of the $449m of its market capitalisation, it raised an additional $132m for the float. Scottish Mortgage Trust, Baillie Gifford...

QuotedData’s Economic round up – September 2018 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. QuotedData’s Economic round up – September 2018 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies...

The UK’s record-breaking summer has been good news for solar power but funds focused exclusively on wind have been faced with fairly low wind speeds. Of course, this situation may well reverse over the winter. John Laing Environmental Assets Group (JLEN) offers renewable energy investors the most diverse portfolio in its sector and hence a smoother ride. Its increased focus on anaerobic digestion, which was highlighted in QuotedData’s last note, adds another source of returns with different risk and reward drivers and...