Invesco Asia Dragon (IAD) has hiked its dividends for the current financial year to 30 April 2027 by 21.5% to 19.2p per share reflecting the “significant increase” in returns the £1bn investment trust made in the last financial year and its policy of paying out 4% of net assets in quarterly distributions. The first interim dividend of 4.8p per share will be paid on 30 July and the shares will be marked ex-dividend on 9 July.
Personal Assets (PNL), the £1.6bn wealth preservation trust, has switched its inflation benchmark from the retail prices index (RPI) to the consumer prices index (CPI) after discussions with shareholders, who considered CPI an important measure to assess the company’s performance. Annual results showed a 6.3% underlying investment return under Troy fund managers Sebastian Lyon and Charlotte Yonge for the year to 30 April, comfortably ahead of the 2.8% rise in CPI but way behind the FTSE All-Share’s 25.2% rally. The company, which has made a 65% total return for shareholders over 10 years ahead of 41.7% CPI inflation, remains highly defensive with 54.8% of assets in UK government bonds and cash and 15% in US index-linked government bonds (TIPS) and 9.2% in gold. In their commentary the managers expressed concern about the volatility and high valuations the buildout of artificial intelligence was causing. The managers added London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to their equity holdings after it was initially identified as an “AI loser” this year but subsequently recovered. They also added a 10% holding in yen through short-dated Japanese government bonds, believing the currency was at a 40-year low and would strengthen when global stock markets were weak. So far, the yen has “modestly depreciated”, but would provide good diversification if markets became more risk averse, they said.
CC Japan Income & Growth (CCJI), the £389m trust run by Richard Aston at Chikara Investments, reported a strong half year of growth as the boost to Asia equity markets from artificial intelligence and growing confidence in the economic strategy of prime minister Takaichi offset the disruption to energy supplies from the Iran war. A total underlying return of 14.7% in the six months to 30 April beat the 7.7% return from the TOPIX index, although shareholders had to make do with an 11.5% advance as the gap between the share price and the net asset value of its investments widened. The discount has narrowed to 3% in the post-year-end rally with the shares returning a total of 54.9% over one year and over 133% over three years. An interim dividend of 1.75p per share was declared, up 6.1% on a year ago, after a 25% rise in net revenue to 3.15p per share.
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) saw its 1.1% Nasdaq-listed holding in uniQure soar 78% on Wednesday after the US Food and Drug Administration dropped its previous insistence for the company to undertake a further trial of its Huntington’s disease gene therapy. At a meeting, the FDA told the drug developer that a three-year analysis from a phase 1/2 study would be acceptable for accelerated approval. “This marks an important shift for the FDA, creating a pathway for a near-term regulatory filing that was otherwise not available under previous leadership of the FDA,” said WWH, a £1.3bn investment trust managed by Sven Borho and Trevor Polischuk at Orbimed Capital.
Baillie Gifford European Growth (BGEU) and Schiehallion (MNTN), the £1.7bn private equity stable mate, have again published updated net asset values after receiving fresh valuations for a number of holdings. At 17 June BGEU’s NAV per share rose 7.4% from the previous day to 124.25p and MNTN’s rose 7.9% from 15 June to 232.98 US cents. This follows an update last week relating to Bending Spoons filing for a $20bn flotation in the US. The Italian digital turnaround platform is the largest holding in both funds, accounting for 11.8% and 15.2% of BGEU and MNTN following the uplift. The other private companies that the latest announcement refers to are FlixMobility, the German operator of budget bus and train services in Europe, and Tekever, the Portuguese drone manufacturer. Before the announcement BGEU held 1.1% and 1.6% in both companies, MNTN 1.15 and 2.3%.
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