May Investment Companies Monthly Roundup
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Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard May 2021 Monthly roundup | Investment companies Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Winners and losers in April It was another strong month for commodity funds, which have led the way in market return terms so far this year (see Appendix 1 for a breakdown of how all the sectors have performed this year). Gold had a strong month, following a relatively subdued few months. UK smaller company funds remained very popular, with the ongoing success of the vaccine rollout emphasised by no apparent ill-effects, to date, from the re-opening measures carried out. Elsewhere, the very unfortunate spiralling in cases across India saw capital removed from that country. April’s median total share price return was 4.4% (the average was 4.7%) which compares with an increase of 1.5% in March. Readers interested in the most recent briefings from the industry can click here to access our economic and political roundup. Best performing sectors in April 2021 by total price return Median share Median NAV total Median discount Median sector Number of price total return return 30/04/21 market cap companies in the (%) (%) (%) 30/04/21 (£m) sector Commodities & natural resources 9.7 3.9 (0.4) 96.3 9 UK smaller companies 9.6 8.0 (8.0) 140.3 24 Global smaller companies 9.1 4.3 (3.6) 1,425.4 5 Property - Europe 8.9 0.0 (2.8) 301.1 7 European smaller companies 8.3 7.7 (9.2) 605.9 4 Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co. Note: inclusive of sectors with at least two companies. Note: many alternative asset sector funds release NAV performance on a quarterly basis Worst performing sectors in April 2021 by total price return Median share Median NAV total Median discount Median sector Number of price total return return 30/04/21 market cap companies in the (%) (%) (%) 30/04/21 (£m) sector India (3.7) (2.1) (13.2) 212.3 4 Renewable energy infrastructure (1.2) 0.0 5.2 454.6 16 Royalties (0.7) (0.2) 5.0 780.8 2 Property - rest of world (0.4) 0.0 (45.9) 44.4 4 Financials 0.0 0.0 0.0 279.2 3 Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co. Note: inclusive of sectors with at least two companies. *many alternative asset sector funds release NAV performance on a quarterly basis Investment companies monthly roundup – May 2021 1 Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Winners and losers continued… Best performing funds in total NAV (LHS) and price (RHS) terms over April 2021 Fund Sector (%) Fund Sector (%) Golden Prospect Precious Metal Commodities 11.7 JZ Capital Partners Flexible 57.4 Investment JPMorgan Smaller Companies UK Smaller Companies 11.3 Electra Private Equity Private Equity 32.7 Gresham House Strategic UK Smaller Companies 11.2 Globalworth Real Estate Property - Europe 25.2 BlackRock Throgmorton UK Smaller Companies 10.9 Golden Prospect Precious Metal Commodities 23.2 CIP Merchant Capital Flexible Investment 10.7 KKV Secured Loan Leasing 20.2 CQS Natural Resources G&I Commodities 10.7 Standard Life Inv. Prop. Income Property - UK 20.0 Commercial Standard Life UK Smaller Co. UK Smaller Companies 10.5 NB Private Equity Private Equity 19.8 Chelverton UK Dividend UK Equity Income 10.4 Aberdeen Smaller Companies Inc. UK Smaller 16.6 Companies European Assets European Smaller Companies 10.4 River and Mercantile UK Micro UK Smaller 16.6 Cap Companies Aberdeen Smaller Companies UK Smaller Companies 9.9 Henderson Opportunities UK All Companies 16.5 Income Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co. Note: excludes trusts with market caps below £15m at 30/04/21 Worst performing funds in total NAV (LHS) and price (RHS) terms over April 2021 Fund Sector (%) Fund Sector (%) Aberdeen New India India (4.4) Schroder UK Public Private Growth Capital (15.0) JPMorgan Indian India (4.2) LMS Capital Private Equity (12.7) Aberdeen New Thai Country Specialist (3.5) Jade Road Investments* Growth Capital (8.9) Schroder Japan Growth Japan (3.3) Crystal Amber UK Smaller (8.7) Companies Aberdeen Japan Japan (3.1) Symphony International Private Equity (8.5) Fidelity Japan Japan (3.0) Livermore Flexible Investment (8.2) Biotech Growth Biotechnology & Healthcare (2.1) Syncona Biotechnology & (6.5) Healthcare Nippon Active Value Japanese Smaller Companies (1.9) RTW Venture Biotechnology & (6.1) Healthcare CC Japan Income & Growth Japan (1.6) Bluefield Solar Income Renewable Energy (5.3) Infrastructure Scottish Investment Trust Global (1.5) JPMorgan Indian India (4.9) Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co. Note: excludes trusts with market caps below £15m at 30/04/21. *formerly Adamas Finance Asia Golden Prospect Precious Metals benefitted as gold sprung back to life over April, following a quiet few months. CQS Natural Resources Growth and Income also saw a higher NAV return as OPEC+ decided to maintain its plans to ease oil output cuts for the next three months due to increasing demand. But UK Smaller Companies trusts dominated the table in April with JPMorgan Smaller Companies, Gresham House Strategic and BlackRock Throgmorton each returning more than 10% for the month. Investment companies monthly roundup – May 2021 2 Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Six of the 10 best NAV performers were UK strategies, continuing what has been one of the year’s main trends to date. In many cases, prices did not keep pace with the NAV moves, leading to some discount widening. US real estate and micro- cap-focused JZ Capital Partners is selling down its portfolio and paying down debt. Its end February NAV (announced on 13 April) was up 13.6% and this seems to have stimulated some buying interest. Electra Private Equity’s shares ended the monthly sharply up and are now above their pre-pandemic level. The fact that the premium jumped to 40.8% signals that a large uplift in NAV is anticipated. Electra’s core assets include TGI Fridays and Hotter Shoes. The former is benefiting from a relaxation in COVID-19 restrictions and the latter is continuing to build on its direct-to-consumer shift. Electra also profited from the sale of its holding in UK manufacturer Sentinel, which it first invested in ten years ago, that sale adds about 30p to the NAV. Aberdeen New India and JPMorgan Indian were the worst performers in April, in NAV terms, as the country struggles to manage the spread of the coronavirus. However, five of the 10 biggest losers for the month were Japanese trusts, including Schroder Japan Growth and Aberdeen Japan. While not as severe as the number of cases in India, investors are cautious amid the continuing concerns about the spike in daily infections. Schroder UK Public Private was hit by the write-down of the value of its Rutherford Health investment. It has had some better news since, however. Symphony International‘s restaurant and hotel investments have struggled in the face of the pandemic. Major shareholder AVI (managers of AVI Global) have vocalised their frustration with the company. Bluefield Solar was affected by further reductions in long term power price forecasts as well as the planned increase in corporation tax. Moves in discounts and premiums More expensive (LHS) and cheaper (RHS) relative to NAV Fund Sector 30 Apr 31 Mar Fund Sector 30 Apr 31 Mar (%) (%) (%) (%) Electra Private Equity Private 40.8 6.1 Schroder UK Public Growth Capital (10.1) 5.7 Equity Private JZ Capital Partners Flexible (57.8) (73.2) Livermore Flexible Investment (33.5) (24.4) Investment Globalworth Real Estate Property - (14.9) (29.7) Syncona Biotechnology & 16.0 24.9 Europe Healthcare Standard Life Inv. Prop. Property - UK (11.3) (24.8) Bluefield Solar Renewable Energy 4.9 13.4 Inc. Commercial Income Infrastructure NB Private Equity Private (20.2) (33.2) LMS Capital Private Equity (44.0) (35.8) Equity Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co. Note: excludes alternative asset funds where there was no recorded change to the NAV over the month We discussed Electra Private Equity, JZ Capital Partners and Schroder UK Public Private in the ‘winners and losers’ section above. Shares in Globalworth Real Estate, a major office-space investor in Poland and Romania, reacted favourably following the announcement that two of its major shareholders, CPI and Aroundtown, who own over 50% of the company, were planning a bid for it. Standard Life Investments Property Income continues to benefit from the economic re-opening. It reported a 2.5% like-for-like increase in the value of its portfolio over the first quarter of the year. NB Private Equity announced a decent set of results in the month and that seems to have benefited its rating. Syncona’s premium narrowed, sentiment has not been helped by the recent announcement that one of its holdings, Gyroscope Therapeutics, was putting its planned IPO on hold. It was a rare bad month for the renewables sector, with market declines led by Bluefield Solar Income following its NAV fall. Investment companies monthly roundup – May 2021 3 Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Money raised and returned over April Money raised (LHS) and returned (RHS) over April in £m Fund Sector £m Fund Sector £m raised returned Gore Street Energy Storage Renewable Energy 135.0 BlackRock Frontiers Global Emerging (64.2)* Infrastructure Markets Smithson Global Smaller 59.4* Fair Oaks Income 2021 Debt - Structured (29.6)* Companies Finance City of London UK Equity Income 30.3* River and Mercantile UK Micro Cap UK Smaller Companies (18.3)* Monks Global 28.0* Third Point Investors Hedge Funds (15.0)* Capital Gearing Flexible Investment 25.2* Witan Global (7.4)* Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co.