Investors' Chronicle

In this podcast episode from The Merchants Trust, portfolio manager Simon Gergel looks back over the five years since the Brexit referendum where many different factors combined to create a particularly extraordinary and challenging period for the UK market. However, the trick has been to look through the various market uncertainties and using that lens, many mispriced opportunities have presented themselves. To see the full podcast series visit https://www.merchantstrust.co.uk/podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Creed and his colleagues certainly have their hands full, having taken over the former Woodford Patient Capital trust in 2019. They also work on a separate trust, Schroder British Opportunities (SBO), which launched late last year with a focus on the "once in a generation" demand for post-pandemic finance among listed and unlisted entities in the UK. In this interview, Creed talks to the IC's Dave Baxter about the listed and unlisted UK stocks the trusts focus on, how the portfolios differ and where his team is investing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a dedicated value investor, River & Mercantile fund manager Hugh Sergeant has perhaps unsurprisingly made big gains from the cyclical rally of recent months, with the River and Mercantile UK Recovery and River and Mercantile Global Recovery funds posting big returns. Now, with the rebound losing some of its momentum in the last few weeks, he makes the case for beleaguered value investors to keep their optimism after a rough decade.In this podcast, he talks to the IC's Dave Baxter about the need to "stay in the game" at times of underperformance, the UK stocks he's backing for further outperformance and why Baidu might be "the cheapest megacap stock I've ever seen in my career". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As inflation rises, inventors are questioning if central bankers are right that inflation will only be transitory. Today’s podcast guest - Karl Sternberg, chairman of the investment committee of Christ Church, one of the largest Oxbridge endowments - says there is a good case to be sceptical about central banks’ ability to ensure monetary stability.In this interview, Karl tells Mary McDougall how investors might prepare their portfolio for a period of inflation, how quantitative easing has sparked a spate of takeover bids and what changes could encourage long-term thinking in UK equities. In a fascinating tour of economic theory, he also explains where he thinks modern monetary theory falls short. Karl recently became chairman of Monks Investment Trust (MNKS), and is on the board of Jupiter Fund Management (JUP). He is a non-executive director of Herald Investment Trust (HIT), Clipstone Logistics REIT, Lowland Investment Company (LWI) and JP Morgan Elect (JPE). He founded Oxford Investment Partners in 2006 and before that he was chief investment officer at Deutsche Asset Management. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James De Uphaugh and his team might have questioned their luck when they took over the running of the Edinburgh Investment Trust in March 2020. Sixteen months on, the trust has both outperformed its benchmark and recovered its pandemic losses, all with a UK-dominated equity portfolio.In this conversation with the IC, the Majedie Asset Management chairman and co-founder gives his take on the Morrisons takeover battle, inflationary pressures, and why he is selling out of Associated British Foods and Hargreaves Lansdown. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this interview, Charles Stanley head of passives Lynn Hutchinson and Morningstar passive strategies analyst Briegel Leitao talk to Dave Baxter about some of the biggest recent developments in the ETF world and what they mean for investors. They look at the rapid rise of thematic funds, the continuing evolution of ESG investing in a passive format and what investors should remember when seeking to ride a value rally using ETFs.Lynn and Briegel have served as expert panellists for the compilation of our 2021 Top 50 ETFs list, which sets out the most useful and interesting building block funds for an investment portfolio.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Europe can be overlooked by investors, but following encouraging economic data, significant fiscal expansion and a slew of companies beating earnings expectations, its stock market - as measured by MSCI Europe ex UK Index - has beaten all other major investing regions so far this year.In this interview, Jamie Ross, manager of Henderson Eurotrust (HNE) tells Mary McDougall why he continues to back defensive, quality growth companies, despite the recent rally in more cyclical names. He explains where he thinks valuations look stretched, what he has been buying and selling recently and why sustainability-minded investors should pay attention to management incentive structures.He also shares why he feels more positive now than he has in the past about Europe’s perennial problem: How will it cope with rising debt levels?Henderson Eurotrust’s share price (total return) has risen 25 per cent over the past 12 months - in line with its benchmark index. Over five years, the trust has delivered returns of 109 per cent, compared with 82 per cent for the FTSE Europe ex UK Index.On 30 June, the trust - which had assets of £352m - was trading at a discount to net asset value of 11 per cent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Yiu, manager of Blue Whale Growth Fund, tells Mary McDougall how he constructs a concentrated portfolio of companies he believes are very high quality and can do well in all macroeconomic conditions.He shares why he has sold Unilever (ULVR), Boston Scientific (US:BSX) and Moncler (IT:MONC), and why he has conviction in Kering (FR:FER), Adobe (US:ADBE), Alphabet (US GOOGL), Mastercard (US:MA) and Visa (US:V).Blue Whale Growth Fund was set up in 2017 and has grown to assets of over £800m. Since launch the fund has delivered an annualised return of 17.9 per cent, ahead of 11 per cent for the Investment Association’s global sector over the same period. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Kirrage and Simon Adler, managers of Schroder Global Recovery Fund and Schroder Recovery Fund, tell Leonora Walters about their approach to value investing and how they take advantage of behavioural biases. They also set out why they like financials and energy companies.While Schroder Global Recovery has underperformed its peers over the past five years, it is up 47.5 per cent over 12 months to 16 June, ahead of 35 per cent for MSCI World Index. Its UK-focussed sibling, Schroder Recovery Fund, is up 43 per cent over the same period - ahead of 22 per cent for the FTSE All-Share Index.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a lot of hype around crypto, but blockchain technology is in its infancy - and has the potential to overhaul how we do business. In this interview, Frederik Gregaard, chief executive officer of the Cardano Foundation, tells James Norrington what the Cardano platform is trying to achieve and why many cryptocurrencies shouldn’t be thought of in terms of currency. They also discuss how decentralised ledgers could interact with corporates and how the regulatory landscape might pan out.Cardano, founded in 2017, is a proof-of-stake, open-source blockchain platform. It is at the forefront of the movement to democratise the internet. The project focuses on long-term real-world solutions rather than being about cryptocurrency speculation. Nevertheless, Cardano's native cryptocoin, ADA, has struck a chord with traders and the coin had a market cap of over $50bn on 10 June, making it the fifth largest crypto asset by value. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.