<p>Here&#8217;s my portfolio review for 2025. I ended the year up 6%, while global markets rose by 14%, and the investment trust index did marginally better, gaining 16%.</p>
<p><!--more--></p>
<h2>My performance</h2>
<p>This table summarises my returns against a range of comparators:</p>
<table id="iti">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Portfolio/comparators</th>
<th>2025</th>
<th>2024</th>
<th>2023</th>
<th>2022</th>
<th>Since<br />
Jan 2018</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>My portfolio</td>
<td>+5.7%</td>
<td>+10.1%</td>
<td>+9.2%</td>
<td>-13.0%</td>
<td>+7.0% pa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap (fund)</td>
<td>+13.6%</td>
<td>+18.3%</td>
<td>+14.7%</td>
<td>-8.0%</td>
<td>+10.4% pa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vanguard LifeStrategy 60 (fund)</td>
<td>+11.6%</td>
<td>+9.7%</td>
<td>+10.1%</td>
<td>-11.2%</td>
<td>+5.9% pa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vanguard UK All-Share Index (fund)</td>
<td>+23.9%</td>
<td>+9.3%</td>
<td>+7.8%</td>
<td>+0.3%</td>
<td>+6.7% pa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>FTSE A/S Closed-End Inv. (index)</td>
<td>+16.2%</td>
<td>+8.7%</td>
<td>+4.9%</td>
<td>-16.6%</td>
<td>+7.0% pa</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><sup><em><strong>Notes: </strong>I use the Vanguard Global Tracker Fund as my main comparator, alongside the more conservative LifeStrategy 60 fund, a UK index-tracking fund, and an index of UK investment trusts providing additional reference points. All returns are pre-tax and measured in sterling using a unitised method that adjusts for any money put in or withdrawn. All trading and administrative costs are included in my returns, but no administrative costs are included for the fund or index figures. The 2025 return for the closed-end index is my estimate, with the official total return figure due to be published in a few days.</em></sup></p>
<p>The UK market was a standout this year, with the investment trust index making a decent return, too. Global indices did pretty well, considering they were down 20% in April after the tariff kerfuffle, although the underlying performance of US markets was hampered by the dollar weakening versus sterling, where it went from $1.25 to $1.34.</p>
<p>My own portfolio matched global markets in the first half and the fourth quarter, but lagged badly in the third quarter, when it gained just 1% while global markets rose nearly 10%. For the year as a whole, while I had some strong performers, most of my larger holdings were more or less flat.</p>
<h2>Performance by holding</h2>
<p>Here&#8217;s how my positions performed on a share price and NAV basis:</p>
<table id="iti" class="tablesorter {sortlist: [[1,1]]}">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Holding (ticker)</th>
<th>Share price<br />
return</th>
<th>NAV return</th>
<th>Premium/<br />
(discount)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2024/12/04/profile-jpmorgan-global-growth-income/">JPMorgan Global Growth &; Income</a> (JGGI)</td>
<td>+2.9%</td>
<td>+7.4%</td>
<td>-3.1%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.itinvestor.co.uk/2019/06/vanguard-all-world-etf-vwrl/">Vanguard All-World ETF</a> (VWRL)</td>
<td>+13.7%</td>
<td>+13.7%</td>
<td>&#8211;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.itinvestor.co.uk/2021/02/10-years-of-lindsell-train-global-equity/">Lindsell Train Global</a></td>
<td>-0.6%</td>
<td>-0.6%</td>
<td>&#8211;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.itinvestor.co.uk/2020/10/10-years-of-fundsmith-equity/">Fundsmith Equity</a></td>
<td>+0.6%</td>
<td>+0.6%</td>
<td>&#8211;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2024/09/11/profile-smithson-investment-trust/">Smithson</a> (SSON)</td>
<td>+5.6%</td>
<td>-1.8%</td>
<td>-2.6%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2025/04/16/profile-rit-capital-partners-2/">RIT Capital Partners</a> (RCP)</td>
<td>+16.9%</td>
<td>+12.7%</td>
<td>-22.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2025/08/13/profile-gresham-house-energy-storage/">Gresham House Energy Storage</a> (GRID)</td>
<td>+71.9%</td>
<td>+7.1%</td>
<td>-32.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2025/03/19/profile-bluefield-solar-income/">Bluefield Solar Income</a> (BSIF)</td>
<td>-19.3%</td>
<td>-2.7%</td>
<td>-40.8%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2025/07/02/profile-hicl-infrastructure-2/">HICL Infrastructure</a> (HICL)</td>
<td>+5.3%</td>
<td>+5.2%</td>
<td>-25.9%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2025/04/23/profile-hgcapital-trust-2/">HgCapital Trust</a> (HGT)</td>
<td>-4.9%</td>
<td>+2.1%</td>
<td>-8.1%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2022/05/24/profile-seraphim-space/">Seraphim Space</a> (SSIT)</td>
<td>+44.6% *</td>
<td>+0.0% *</td>
<td>+0.8%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2024/10/02/profile-bellevue-healthcare/">Bellevue Healthcare</a> (BBH)</td>
<td>+5.0%</td>
<td>+3.3%</td>
<td>-4.1%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2025/02/26/profile-worldwide-healthcare-2/">Worldwide Healthcare</a> (WWH)</td>
<td>+20.1%</td>
<td>+11.0%</td>
<td>-6.8%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2023/11/29/profile-international-biotechnology/">International Biotechnology</a> (IBT)</td>
<td>+47.3%</td>
<td>+39.2%</td>
<td>-5.4%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.itinvestor.co.uk/2019/12/baronsmead-venture-trust-my-problem-child/">Baronsmead Venture Trust</a> (BVT)</td>
<td>+0.4%</td>
<td>+1.1%</td>
<td>-5.2%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2025/10/22/profile-henderson-smaller-companies-2/">Henderson Smaller Companies</a> (HSL)</td>
<td>+9.2%</td>
<td>+5.1%</td>
<td>-10.2%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://money-makers.co/2024/06/12/profile-blackrock-smaller-companies/">BlackRock Smaller Companies</a> (BSRC)</td>
<td>-1.2%</td>
<td>-0.7%</td>
<td>-11.8%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.itinvestor.co.uk/2021/10/q3-2021-quality-fights-back/#KR1">KR1</a> (KR1)</td>
<td>-63.3%</td>
<td>-63.6%</td>
<td>-18.1%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em><sup><strong>Note:</strong> I have linked to my most recent write-up, mostly on the Money Makers subscription site, but some are on this site. Those on this site were all written a few years ago and therefore don&#8217;t reflect recent events and results. * The percentage change for SSIT is since my initial purchase, rather than for calendar year 2025. </sup></em></p>
<p>The average discount across all my positions was 5.0% at the end of the year, which is a little bit wider than the 4.2% it was at both June 2025 and December 2024.</p>
<p>My global equity quality funds, Fundsmith &; Lindsell Train, plus HGT and JGGI, haven&#8217;t kept pace with global indices this year. Style factors have undoubtedly played a part for both Fundsmith and Lindsell Train, as they have for a few years now, but there have been some stock-specific hits in their portfolios, too. HGT&#8217;s underlying portfolio still seems to be performing well, and its largest holding, Visma, is reportedly considering an IPO, but private equity valuations have paused for breath after many years of strong gains. Likewise, JGGI has had a run of good years up until this one and has seen a small premium become a small discount.</p>
<p>Healthcare provided some respite in the last few months, with International Biotechnology and Worldwide Healthcare performing particularly strongly and seeing their discounts narrow as a result. The former was down by 30% in April and has ended the year up around 50%.</p>
<p>The last few months have seen four corporate announcements that might result in a takeover/merger, and could see me either sell out or reduce my position.</p>
<p><strong>#1</strong> Bellevue Healthcare (BBH) has had to buy back an astonishing amount of shares in the last few years, thanks to annual redemptions and, most recently, adopting a zero discount control policy. It had nearly 600m shares in issue in the middle of 2022, and now it has just 80m. Its managers tweaked the investment strategy, but its underperformance continued. The board of BBH now wants to appoint Columbia Threadneedle as its new management firm, using a long/short strategy that has a very good record but over a very short timeframe. I sold part of my position a couple of months ago to buy a new holding in the form of Seraphim Space (see below), and I&#8217;m yet to decide what to do with my remaining stake. The appointment of the new manager will be subject to a shareholder vote, with the circular expected shortly. The manager change was initially proposed at the end of October, so I&#8217;m not sure if anything is causing a delay. BBH&#8217;s enhanced dividend policy looks likely to go, and I can&#8217;t say I am pleased with the basic fee remaining the same under the new manager, while a 15% performance fee is being introduced on top.</p>
<p><strong>#2</strong> Smithson (SSON) has thrown in the towel as a listed company after being unable to close its discount by buying back shares. As many people had observed, it never made much use of the closed-ended structure. The initial premise was that many of the companies it buys would have limited liquidity, so they weren&#8217;t best suited to sitting in an open-ended fund. But having had no particular issues selling stocks within its portfolio to fund buybacks, it seems that no longer applies. Smithson plans to convert to an open-ended fund, and it will continue to be managed by Simon Barnard. The transaction is scheduled to take place by March 2026, so I have a little time to decide what to do. I suspect I will take the cash for part of my position.</p>
<p><strong>#3</strong> HICL surprised everyone in November when it proposed a tie-up with Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG), also managed by InfraRed. The three-year notice period on the management contracts seemed to be a main driver, making tie-ups with other trusts face an additional cost hurdle. A couple of weeks after it was announced, and after a shareholder backlash, the deal was called off. HICL shares fell on the initial announcement and then rebounded when the deal was canned, reflecting the widely-held view that the proposal was a much better deal for TRIG shareholders. HICL had seemed to be on an upward path after a lengthy period of portfolio refocusing, so it was disappointing to see its board put forward such a questionable transaction. I suspect there will be some corporate action here at some point, and the result may be that HICL merges with INPP or gets taken over by a private fund.</p>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">Join the Money Makers circle</h3>
<p>I've teamed up with Jonathan Davis, the editor of The Investment Trusts Handbook, at Money Makers where I am now writing regular articles on trusts and funds.</p>
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<p><strong>#4</strong> Bluefield Solar Income (BSIF) has had a truly miserable 2025. After saying earlier in the year that it was effectively in run-off mode without access to fresh equity capital to fund its development pipeline, it proposed a merger with its investment manager so that it could form an operating business and make it easier to raise new funds. But although it said that its major shareholders had shown interest in the idea, a wider consultation obviously revealed much less enthusiasm, as the plan was swiftly abandoned and BSIF has now put itself up for sale. Add to this a weak power price environment, the government saying it might alter the indexation of renewable subsidies, and wider concerns about the push towards Net Zero, and the BSIF share price has sunk to all-time lows. It now yields 13% and sits on a 40% discount. Operationally, the business still seems to be performing reasonably well, but from a structural point of view, it did get caught out with a bit too much debt when interest rates began to rise a few years ago, giving it much less room for manoeuvre. I suspect it will take a few months before any preferred bidder and indicative price are announced, so I&#8217;ll keep holding for now to see how things develop. Of course, it&#8217;s not a great time to be a forced seller of renewable assets.</p>
<p>There were a few items of note across my remaining holdings.</p>
<p>KR1 moved from the smaller, less-regulated AQUIS market to the London Stock Exchange at the end of November, which should improve the liquidity of its shares in the long run. At the moment, though, it is suffering badly from the recent downturn in crypto prices, with the value of its portfolio at its lowest level since I purchased my initial position nearly five years ago. Its focus is also shifting a bit, investing less in new early-stage projects (a few recent launches are trading well below the money KR1 invested), instead looking to build up its staking activities.</p>
<p>Seraphim Space (SSIT) is a trust I have been watching for a few years now, having reviewed it for Money Makers a couple of times. I bought a small position at the end of October, funded by a part-sale of Bellevue Healthcare. Like most growth capital trusts, it has traded at a wide discount recently, but a number of its holdings, particularly ICEYE and D-Orbit, are experiencing a step change in the size of their operations. The portfolio has become very concentrated, so it&#8217;s high risk. Its a small position within my portfolio right now, although I will probably add to it over time. Its share price rose significantly in December, meaning it is now trading around its last published NAV, with investors anticipating an upwards revaluation for ICEYE on the back of recent contract wins.</p>
<p>The quiet reinvention at RIT Capital Partners (RCP) seems to be progressing nicely, with CEO Maggie Finari popping up on various podcasts and videos and looking more comfortable in spelling out the trust&#8217;s strategy. The discount remains in the 20s, so wider investor sentiment is yet to recognise much of a change.</p>
<p>Gresham House Energy Storage (GRID) continues to grind away at its three-year plan. Long-term floor facilities have been agreed with various counterparties, enabling it to repay its old £180m facility at a 300 basis point margin with a new £220m facility at 225 basis points, half of which is due to be paid down over the next seven years. This will fund augmentations at several of its assets, increasing their duration to two hours, with further financing reportedly on the way to help pay for several new projects. GRID&#8217;s much-heralded return to the dividend list turned out to be spectacularly underwhelming, with the trust paying just 0.11p for 2024 and signalling 0.25p for 2025, preferring to retain nearly all its surplus cash flow to help build its portfolio. I don&#8217;t have a particular problem with that, but early communications suggested a much higher payment was likely. There have also been some changes to how early in the construction process valuations are based on expected future cash flows rather than cost &#8212; this seems a little cute, but should be mostly an issue of timing. GB battery storage revenues have been subdued in recent months, given that they should be a little higher over winter, with system operator improvements that will see overall battery usage increase taking their time to be implemented. I still see a reasonable amount of medium-term upside here, but this position is still one that requires close monitoring.</p>
<p>Lastly, Indratti van Hien has now formally taken over from Neil Hermon at Henderson Smaller Companies, with <span class="ab">Cassie Herlihy joining as deputy in November, moving over from Gresham House. The trust&#8217;s next half-year report, due in a few weeks, should give us a bit more insight into the ongoing refinements to the investment strategy. Its recent performance has been a little better than BlackRock Smaller, which I suspect is partly thanks to its more aggressive stance on gearing.</span></p>
<h2>Trading</h2>
<p>My partial Bellevue Healthcare/Seraphim switch is the main change I have made this year. In recent months, I have made small top-ups at Henderson Smaller, BlackRock Smaller, RIT Capital, KR1, Bluefield Solar, and Gresham House Energy Storage.</p>
<p>The next few months may see a little more trading activity from me than usual, depending on what I decide to do with Smithson and Bellevue Healthcare, and whether there is a deal put forward for Bluefield. Something may happen at HICL, but perhaps at a later date. I&#8217;m still minded to keep reducing the number of holdings I have, and this does seem like a good opportunity for some simplification.</p>
<p>Thank you for reading!</p>
 
 ;
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<h3>Disclaimer</h3>
<p>Please note that I may own some of the investments mentioned above -- you can see my current holdings on <a href="https://www.itinvestor.co.uk/portfolio/">my portfolio page</a>. </p>
<p>Nothing on this website should be regarded as a buy or sell recommendation as I'm just a random person writing a blog in his spare time and I am not authorised to give financial advice. Always do your own research and seek financial advice if necessary!</p>
</p>

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