Kepler Trust Intelligence Podcast

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Ailsa Craig, manager of International Biotechnology Trust, about the investment case for the biotech sector, including recent performance, M&A, managing political noise and finding the most compelling opportunities across the sector. 00:00 Introduction 00:42 Key drivers of NBI movements 03:00 Thoughts on outperformance  05:12 Current portfolio alloc...

Join Jo Groves, Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff and David Brenchley from Kepler Trust Intelligence for a roundup of all the news that matters to investment trust investors in October, brought to you in association with Schroders.  In news, Ryan looks at whether the rollover into an active ETF could indicate a future for the asset class, as well as a re-entry from Saba into the lowly valued smaller companie...

Our monthly podcast brings you big-picture insights from leading investment experts, exploring the opportunities, challenges and risks shaping investor portfolios. This month's guest is Emily Fletcher, manager of the BlackRock Frontiers trust, who has extensive experience in emerging and frontier markets. In this month’s episode, we discuss a range of topics including the investment case for front...

Join Jo Groves, Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff and David Brenchley from Kepler Trust Intelligence for a roundup of all the news that matters to investment trust investors in September, brought to you in association with Schroders.   In news, Ryan looks at how a comeback from Saba could mean more activity for investment trust investors, as well as passing judgement over a series of other corporate governan...

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak with Andrew Zimmermann, chief financial officer at Molten Ventures (GROW), a FTSE 250 listed venture capital firm. GROW owns and manages a portfolio of early-to-growth stage investments, as well as managing third-party capital via EIS and VCT schemes and allocating to a fund of funds programme focusing on the seed stage. GROW owns a diverse portfolio of te...

Our monthly podcast brings you big-picture insights from leading investment experts, exploring the opportunities, challenges and risks shaping investor portfolios. This month's guest is Sophie Huynh, Portfolio Manager at BNP Paribas Asset Management. In this month’s episode, we discuss a range of topics including her thoughts on portfolio construction, the outlook for the US and China and the inve...

Join Jo Groves, Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff and David Brenchley from Kepler Trust Intelligence for a roundup of all the news that matters to investment trust investors in August, brought to you in association with Schroders. In news, Ryan analyses the outcome of the Gore Street Energy EGM, and how much traction RM funds made with their proposals. Sticking with corporate activity, he then discusses the...

Our monthly podcast brings you big-picture insights from leading investment experts, exploring the opportunities, challenges and risks shaping investor portfolios. This month's guest is Ailsa Craig, manager of the International Biotechnology Trust, who has extensive experience in the biotech industry. In this month’s episode, we discuss a range of topics including the investment case for biotech,...

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak with Richard Sennitt, manager of Schroder Oriental Income, about the investment case for Asia, from opportunities in Taiwan and Singapore to navigating tariffs and uncovering where he sees the most exciting growth stories across the region. 00:00 Introduction 00:39 Drivers of recent outperformance 03:23 Overweight to Taiwan, Singapore & HK 06:03 Underw...

Join Jo Groves, Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff and David Brenchley from Kepler Trust Intelligence for a roundup of all the news that matters to investment trust investors in July, brought to you in association with Schroders. In news, Ryan discusses the shifting outlook for the sector, with discounts narrowing and the M&A trend spreading out to newer asset classes. Next, we also shine the light on a n...

Market Matters is a monthly podcast from Kepler Trust Intelligence that delivers big-picture insights from leading investment specialists, exploring the opportunities, challenges, and risks shaping investors’ portfolios. This month, we are joined by Charlotte Yonge from Troy Asset Management. Charlotte is co-manager of the Trojan fund and Personal Assets Trust, as well as being fund manager of the...

In this episode of Trust Issues, Bradley Biggins, co-portfolio manager for Schroder Real Estate, Bradley discusses the outlook for UK commercial property after a tough period, the role property plays within diversified portfolios, explains what the reversionary yield is, and digs into SREI’s brown-to-green sustainability mandate. 00:00 Introduction 01:08 The outlook for UK commercial property 04:3...

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Doug Ledingham, manager of Pacific Assets Trust, about the investment case for Asia, including why valuations continue to look attractive in China and the Philippines, the impact of tariffs and uncovering the most exciting opportunities across Asia. 00:00 Introduction 00:39 Overview of investment philosophy 04:17 Increase in allocation to China 09:17 In...

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Masaki Taketsume, manager of Schroder Japan about the investment case for Japan, including his thoughts on corporate government reforms, recent performance, the impact of tariffs and domestic-oriented plays. 00:00 Introduction 00:37 Overview of investment approach 02:34 Current portfolio weightings 03:19 Potential for domestic plays 04:16 Recent perform...

Market Matters is a monthly podcast from Kepler Trust Intelligence that delivers big-picture insights from leading investment specialists, exploring the opportunities, challenges, and risks shaping investors’ portfolios. This month, we are joined by Laura Foll, co-portfolio manager for Law Debenture and Lowland Investment Company, which invest in companies listed on the UK stock market. In this ep...

Join Jo Groves, Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff and David Brenchley from Kepler Trust Intelligence for a roundup of all the news that matters to investment trust investors in June, brought to you in association with Schroders. In news, Ryan talks through the changes at Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (BGS) and MIGO Opportunities (MIGO) and the wider implications for the sector. We also chat about the notable c...

Join Jo Groves, Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff and David Brenchley from Kepler Trust Intelligence for a roundup of all the news that matters to investment trust investors in May, brought to you in association with Schroders. In news, Ryan debates the pros and cons of the ongoing activist activity, and what effects this has had on the wider industry. Elsewhere, we discuss the implications of industry veter...

Our monthly podcast brings you big-picture insights from leading investment experts, exploring the opportunities, challenges and risks shaping investor portfolios. This month's guest is Bianca McMillan, associate director at Gravis, which specialises in infrastructure, real estate and private credit funds. Bianca has extensive experience in the asset management industry with a particular specialis...

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Jean Roche, manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap, about the investment case for the UK mid-cap sector, including why valuations continue to look attractive, the key drivers of performance and uncovering the most exciting opportunities in the sector. 00:00 Introduction 00:18 Why invest in UK mid-caps?  03:32 Potential catalysts for a re-rating 06:40 Impact of...

In this episode of Trust Issues we speak with Robert Lloyd and Pauline Ng, co-managers of JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income Trust (JAGI). The managers aim to invest in the most innovative and industry-leading companies across Asia, while using the investment trust structure to provide investors with an attractive and predictable level of income. Robert and Pauline explore the diverse opportunities...

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak with Matt Ridley, who leads the investment management team at Greencoat UK Wind (UKW), which owns and operates 49 wind farms across the UK. UKW aims to provide investors with a growing annual dividend while preserving the capital value of its investment portfolio in real terms. Matt talks about the recent management transition, sentiment towards the renewa...

Join Jo Groves, Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff and David Brenchley from Kepler Trust Intelligence for a roundup of all the news that matters to investment trust investors in April, brought to you in association with Schroders. Ryan looks at the news, including details of a solution from Saba and ESCT, plus tender offers elsewhere from Baillie Gifford, as well as the implications of a ‘hostile’ approach fo...

Our monthly podcast brings you big picture insights from leading investment specialists, exploring the opportunities, challenges and potential threats shaping portfolios. This month's guest is Annabel Brodie-Smith, communications director at the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), the industry body set up in 1932 to support and promote investment trusts as well as engaging with them, end in...

Our monthly podcast brings you big picture insights from leading investment specialists, exploring the opportunities, challenges and potential threats shaping portfolios (and there’s certainly been plenty of the latter in the last few weeks…). This month's guest is Charlotte Morris, co-manager of Pantheon International, which provides a globally-diversified portfolio of private equity investments....

Jo, Ryan and David talk through the most notable news in March, including updates on the activist and M&A activity, results from across Asia, and highlights from our recent special report on investing for income. Ryan provides a run-down on new launch Achilles Investment Company (AIC)’s first target, a planned strategy tweak for Schroder British Opportunities (SBO) and two trusts that have bee...