Kepler Trust Intelligence Podcast

Monthly round-up of investment trust news

Jo Groves and Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff from Kepler Trust Intelligence discuss the most notable news, reviews and interviews in the investment trust world in June.
We talk about the merger of Alliance Trust and Witan, alongside the unsuccessful IPO of the Special Opportunities REIT and the newly-announced enhanced dividend and discount management policy for Schroder Japan.
We also bring you the highlights from our recent small-cap webinar series with Nish Patel, manager of the Global Smaller Companies Trust, Gervais Williams, manager of Miton UK MicroCap and, finally, Joe Bauernfreund of AVI Japan Opportunity Trust.
We round things off with the key talking points from our recent interview with Richard Sennitt, manager of Schroder Oriental Income, as well as results from Cordiant Digital Infrastructure and Sequioa Economic Infrastructure.
0:00 Welcome
00:26 Merger of Alliance Trust and Witan
01:31 Wider implications on the sector
03:13 Unsuccessful IPO of Special Opportunities REIT (SOR)
04:40 Opportunities for REIT investing
06:20 New dividend and discount management policy for Schroder Japan
08:44 Overview of small-cap event
09:23 Global Smaller Companies Trust
12:00 Miton UK MicroCap
13:41 AVI Japan Opportunity Trust
15:42 Schroder Oriental Income
18:55 Cordiant Digital Infrastructure results
20:37 Sequoia Economic Infrastructure results
16:11 Risk warning

Trusts in Focus: Schroder Japan

Trusts in Focus: We look at the enhanced dividend and discount management policy for Schroder Japan
In this episode of Trusts in Focus, we discuss the newly-announced enhanced dividend and discount management policy for Schroder Japan, together with our view on the trust and the wider Japan sector.
00:00 Introduction
01:06 Overview of enhanced dividend policy
04:30 Overview of discount management policy
05:54 Our views on the trust
09:07 Our views on the wider implications
10:32 Our views on the broader Japanese sector
13:18 The effect of recent initiatives
15:29 Risk warning
 
Our latest note on SJG  - https://www.trustintelligence.co.uk/investor/articles?fund_id=38
SJG website - https://www.schroders.com/en-gb/uk/individual/funds-and-strategies/investment-trusts/schroder-japan-trust/9
 

Trust Issues - investing in the Asian income story with SOI manager Richard Sennitt

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Richard Sennitt, manager of Schroder Oriental Income, about the opportunity for investors in the Asian income sector which offers access to world-leading companies in the region.
 
00:00 Introduction
00: 14 Overview of the fund and current portfolio
02:07 Assessing value and key investment attributes
03:32 Why active management matters and key differentiating factors
04:58 Is the region overlooked by income seekers?
06:43 Key drivers for capital growth
07:45 Recent performance
10:15 Managing downside risk
11:29 Which parts of the market are interesting?
13: 35 Will a fall in US interest rates be a tailwind?
 
Our latest note on SOI -https://www.trustintelligence.co.uk/investor/articles?fund_id=60
SOI website - https://tinyurl.com/4svwxs53
 

The investment opportunity in renewable infrastructure with Greencoat UK Wind

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Stephen Lilley, manager of Greencoat UK Wind, about the opportunity for investors in renewable infrastructure, including the strong secular growth drivers for UK wind infrastructure.
00:00 Introduction & performance highlights
03:40 Is the opportunity still as compelling as it was at launch?
08:24 How healthy are underlying dividends from power companies?
12:18 The effect of rising rates
16:14 Does it matter who wins the general election?
20:09 Risk warning

Monthly round-up of investment trust news

Jo Groves and Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff from Kepler Trust Intelligence discuss some of the most notable news stories in the investment trust world over the past month.
We talk about the latest news for Scottish Mortgage, Henderson and Pantheon International, as well as results for Schroder AsiaPacific and Oriental Income.
We also bring you some of the highlights from our recent podcasts with Richard Staveley, manager of Rockwood Strategic, and Christopher Berrier, manager of Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies.
0:00 Welcome
0:17 Scottish Mortgage
4:43 Henderson
6:34 Pantheon
7:54 Rockwood (UK small-caps)
10:52 Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies
13:42 Schroders AsiaPacific & Oriental Income
16:11 Risk warning

Investing in US small-caps with BASC

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Christopher Berrier, manager of Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies, about the opportunity for investors in the US small-cap sector, including recent performance and why the US small-cap sector lends itself well to active management.

The opportunity in UK small-caps with Rockwood Strategic manager Richard Staveley

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Richard Staveley, manager of Rockwood Strategic, about the opportunity for investors in UK small-caps, including some of the key drivers behind Rockwood’s strong track record of outperformance.

Trust Issues - investing in UK small-caps with BlackRock Smaller Companies

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Nicholas Todd, one of our Kepler Trust Intelligence analysts, about investing in UK small-caps and what BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) offers investors looking for exposure to UK equities.

The investment opportunity in Japan, with CCJI's Richard Aston

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Richard Aston, Manager of CC Japan Income and Growth Trust (CCJI). Richard talks through why corporate reforms have made Japan an increasingly attractive place to invest, what sorts of companies CCJI looks for, and how the trust's portfolio is structured. 
00:00 Intro01:00 What is CCJI?01:38 What's attractive about Japanese stocks today?03:58 How do you think about valuations, in light of corporate reforms?08:46 Have any CCJI investments benefited from corporate reforms?10:25 Do any themes emerge in the stock picking process?13:02 Any specific opportunities that look interesting today?14:35 Thoughts on central bank policy

High yield UK stocks, with AEI Manager Thomas Moore

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Thomas Moore, Manager of the Abrdn Equity Income Trust (AEI). The trust pays a high yield and we talk through how Thomas looks to achieve and maintain that. We also look at the UK market more broadly and ask if there is anything which can cause a rerating in valuations.
00:00 - Risk warning 01:00 - Overview of AEI06:00 - Avoiding value traps10:15 - Is gearing still generating positive carry?12:50 - Will anything drive a rerating in UK stocks?17:20 - Do any areas of the market look more attractive today?19:10 - Why invest in AIM?22:22 - Do higher rates mean a better outlook for value stocks?
Our latest research on AEI: https://tinyurl.com/jakfen4yAEI Website: abrdnequityincome.com/en-gb