184: Weekly Investment Trusts Podcast - with Ben Guest and Guy Anderson (11 Nov 2023)

In this week's edition of the Weekly Investment Trust Podcast, Jonathan Davis, editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook, speaks to Ben Guest, manager of Gresham House Energy Storage (GRID), and Guy Anderson, manager of the Mercantile Investment Trust (MRC). We are grateful for the support of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which enables us to keep the podcast free. Section Timestamps: 0:00:39 - This week's guests 0:02:11 - Review of the week 0:04:53 - Corporate news and announcements 0:12:03 - Summary of results 0:17:23 - Money Makers Circle 0:17:50 - Q&A with Ben Guest 0:18:00 - Reasons behind share price declines 0:19:23 - Battery energy storage 0:23:18 - Setting prices 0:28:09 - The outlook for power prices and volatility 0:30:05 - The dividend 0:35:09 - The discount rate 0:36:50 - International diversification 0:43:32 - Changes from the original prospectus 0:45:17 - Q&A with Guy Anderson 0:45:29 - Improvements in the UK market 0:48:56 - Political risk 0:54:22 - How the trust fits into the wider landscape 0:58:42 - The investment style 1:02:52 - Changes to the portfolio 1:10:30 - Gearing 1:12:08 - The dividend 1:13:36 - The discount 1:14:49 - Close Trusts mentioned this week (with tickers): Gresham House Energy Storage Trust (GRID), Gore Street Energy Storage (GSF), Harmony Energy Impact Trust (HEIT), Mercantile Investment Trust (MRC), Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9), Chrysalis (CHRY), Schiehallion (MNTN), UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM), Picton Property Income (PCTN), Home REIT (HOME), Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG), Round Hill Music Royalty (RHM), European Opportunities Trust (EOT), Downing Strategic Micro-Cap (DSM), Abrdn New Dawn (ABD), Asia Dragon Trust (DGN), RIT Capital Partners (RCP), Abrdn Equity Income (AEI), Henderson Opportunities Trust (HOT), Fidelity Special Values (FSV), AVI Global (AGT), Schroder Oriental Income (SOI), Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies (SST), BlackRock Greater Europe (BRGE), International Biotechnology Trust (IBT), Scottish Mortgage (SMT), 3i Group (III), 3i Infrastructure (3IN), Biotech Growth Trust (BIOG), HgCapital Trust (HGT), Regional REIT (RGL), HICL Infrastructure Trust (HICL), Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT), Riverstone Energy (RSE), Schroders Capital Global Innovation (INOV), Foresight Sustainable Forestry (FSF). If you enjoy the weekly podcast, you may also find value in joining The Money Makers circle. This is a membership scheme that offers listeners to the podcast an opportunity, in return for a modest monthly or annual subscription, to receive additional premium content, including interviews, performance data, market/portfolio reviews and regular extracts from the editor's notebook. This week, as well as the regular features, the Circle features a profile of the Balanced Commercial Property Trust (BCPT). Future profiles coming soon include Nippon Active Value Fund (NAVF) and Fidelity Asian Values (FAS). For more information about the Money Makers circle, please visit money-makers.co/membership-join. Membership helps to cover the cost of producing the weekly investment trust podcast, which will continue to be free. We are very grateful for your continued support and the enthusiastic response to our over 180 podcasts since launch. You can find more information, including relevant disclosures, at www.money-makers.co. Please note that this podcast is provided for educational purposes only and nothing you hear should be considered as investment advice. Our podcasts are also available on the Association of Investment Companies website, www.theaic.co.uk. Produced by Ben Gamblin.