I’ve always had a bit of soft spot for private equity investment trusts. One of the first trusts I bought was F&C Enterprise (now ICG Enterprise) back in the 1990s. I’ve held HgCapital for nearly a decade now and Princess Private Equity joined my portfolio in 2018.
Stock markets never fail to surprise. The heavy fall at the end of 2018 seems to be long-forgotten, and global markets have been making all-time highs again. In pound terms, they rose 16.5% over the first six months of the year (and a further 3% in the first three days of July).
Like many investors, I have less fixed income in my portfolio than I should. Although I have some cash and property, so I am not completely at the mercy of the stock market, rock-bottom interest rates have long held me back from venturing too deeply into bonds.
Like many folks, I have been astonished by events at Woodford Investment Management. I knew it had some issues but not having followed the situation too closely, I didn’t realise quite what a massive hole it had dug for itself. And new revelations seem to be coming out on a daily basis.
I’ve been doing a bit of a clearout recently and I came across a mass of old investment statements that I thought had long since departed this world. For a little while, I was tempted.
HICL Infrastructure Company is the oldest and largest infrastructure trust in the UK. It was set up in 2006 and now boasts nearly £3bn in assets. Its annualised return since launch has been 9.4%, handily ahead of the 7-8% target set at its IPO.
It’s hard to deny that passive investing, particularly using global equity trackers, is one of the best strategies you can follow. Some of my money is invested this way with the Vanguard All-World ETF. It’s not been without a few niggles, though.
Last week, I ventured out from the safety of my laptop and travelled into London for the inaugural Mello Trusts and Funds event in Chiswick. My brain is still hurting — there was so much to absorb — but it was definitely a worthwhile trip.
My entry to the world of investment trusts, nearly 25 years ago now, was via monthly savings schemes. They made it both easy and cost-effective to invest small sums. But few such schemes exist today and they may soon die out completely.
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