sage in the hills
12 Apr 2018
They have now bought Melrose Fund Manager's ReviewDuring March, the markets continued their decline, building on the fall seen in February. Whilst the fund outperformed lastmonth, it underperformed in March, producing a NAV total return of -3.9%, whilst the FTSE 100 produced a total return of-2.0%. Our share price (bid) remained unchanged at 44.00p.In light of the increased volatility and declining equity markets, we decided to reduce the risk profile and volatility of theportfolio by selling our shares in Himax Technologies Inc. The deployment of their 3D sensing solution for Androidsmartphones is going to be slower than we expected and we have generally become less positive on the name followingtheir recent earnings report. Our investment in Turkey's 2027 government bond did not go as planned and whilst it is agood source of high yield, the economic situation has not improved and is seemingly getting worse so we decided to sellour position until things stabilize. To replace this yield, we bought a newly issued bond from Point Resources with a yield tomaturity of 9.0% denominated in US dollars. Finally, we purchased some shares in Melrose Industries Plc following theiracquisition of GKN Plc. We have invested in Melrose Industries in the past and it has an exemplary track record ofwringing value out of the companies it acquires and we believe it will do very well out of the GKN acquisition should it gothrough.In terms of performance, our best performing equities in local prices during the month were National Grid, up 8.4%, MicronTechnology, up 6.8%, ETRACS 2x Long WFC BDCI ETN, up 6.1% and KCAP Financial, up 5.7%. Our top performingbonds were Republic of Brazil 10% 2025, up 1.8%, Egypt Treasury Bill 04/09/2018, up 1.5% and Argentina Badlar+3.25%2020, up 1.4%. Our preference shares were negatively impacted due to the announcement made by Aviva stating theywould consider redeeming their "irredeemable" preference shares at par, despite them trading at much higher levels. Avivalater abandoned the idea following a backlash from investors and the price of all the associated preference sharesrecovered, but not to the level they were pre-announcement. Our Lloyds prefs finished the month -10.4% and our Natwestprefs -5.3%. Lastly, currency movements were also a negative impact to our performance, sterling rose 1.9% against theUSD, 2.0% against ARS, 3.7% against BRL, 3.2% against CHF, 1.0% against EUR and 1.7% against EGP.SAGE
NoMorePlungers
20 Feb 2018
Up or down in SP with a 10% Bid/Offer spread, it seems one must also pay out 1.5% of assets annually to the management plus an ongoing wapping 3.68%pa before they pay the divi pay the divi.
sage in the hills
15 Feb 2018
Detailed Fund managers review Jan 18 Fund Manager's ReviewThe Fund produced a NAV total return of -1.9% in January. That was roughly in line with the FTSE 100 which produced atotal return of -2.0%. Our share price (bid) was unchanged at 47.00p.There were a number of changes to the portfolio during January as we decided to slightly restructure our exposures. Dueto the continuing decline in the Argentine Peso, we decided to reduce our exposure to Argentina by selling our two LEBACtreasury bills and our holding in the Rep. of Argentina 22.75% 03/2018 bond. One of our Egyptian treasury bills maturedand we reinvested the proceeds in another 1 year treasury bill. We booked some of our substantial profits on our Brazilianbonds back in November 2017 and we once again decided to reduce this holding and book more profits this month. Tomaintain good levels of income, we purchased two oil sector bonds, issued by Siccar Point Energy and Faroe Petroleum.Finally, as markets began to decline during the second half of the month, we decided to sell our holding in Rolls Royce andbook profits. We also reduced our holding in Credit Suisse and sold our holding in Teradyne, booking a total return of24.4%.In terms of performance, our best performing equities in local prices were Teradyne, up 12.3% when we sold ourshareholding, Bank of Ireland, up 10.2%, Synaptics, up 8.5%, Micron Technology, up 6.3% and UBS Group, up 5.4%. Ourbonds also performed well with Rep. of Argentina Badlar+3.25% 2020 bond rising 4.9%, Rep. of Argentina 18.2% 2021, up3.8%, Rep. of Brazil 10% 2025, up 3.7%, Santander perpetual bond, up 3.2%, Genel Energy bond, up 3.1%, Petrobrasbond up 2.4% and Rep. of Argentina 15.5% 2026, up 2.1%.However, despite these strong individual, local currency, performances Sterling strength adversely impacted ourperformance to the extent that we made a loss on the month. It rose 10.8% against the ARS, 5.0% against the USD, 1.0%against BRL, 0.4% against CHF, 3.7% against TRY and 4.4% against EGP. Quite why STG should be so strong when thecountry is dogged by grave economic problems (giant balance of payments and budget deficits, ballooning public sectordebt, rising global interest rates that will make that debt increasingly difficult to service) and political risk in the form ofJeremy Corbyn and the high likelihood that Theresa May will be toppled before long for her complete lack of any coherenteconomic policy and botched handling of our departure from the EU is puzzling. STG is a strong sell in our books. CUMULATIVE PERFORMANCE (%)Current (p) 1 month 3 months 6 months 1 year 3 years 5 yearsNAV + Dividend 52.20 -1.9% -3.8% -1.1% 1.8% 22.2% 53.9%Share Price + Dividend 47.00 0.0% 4.4% 21.0% 30.1% 73.5% 130.8%An index of top 100 UK co.'s -2.0% 1.1% 3.9% 10.4% 25.3% 44.7%Discount / + Premium (%) -10.0 -11.7 -17.0 -25.1 -28.3 -32.6 -34.5Source: Blue Planet, share price bid to bid, net income reinvested. Fund vs an index of top 100 UK companies since 06/2012 PORTFOLIO ALLOCATIONBondsEquityPreference sharesCash47.7% 48.9%3.3%0.1% 0%10%20%30%40%50% BOARD OF DIRECTORSMr John Tyce ChairmanMs Victoria Killay Non-ExecutiveMr Kenneth Murray Non-Executive DIRECTORS' & MANAGER'S SHAREHOLDINGNumber of shares 14,032,748% Holding of Trust 28.4Fund %Index %PAGE 1 OF 2 KEY INFORMATIONInvestment ManagerBlue Planet Investment Mgmt. LtdAIC SectorGlobal Equity IncomeAnnual Management Fee1.50%Year EndApr-18AGM Date10 August 2017Continuation VoteAGM, 2019 GEARINGMax Allowable (%)75.0Month End (%)33CURRENT BORROWINGS£5.5M KAS BANK MARGIN FACILITY;£3.0M INTERACTIVE BROKERSMARGIN FACTILITY DIVIDEND INFORMATIONLast Annual Payment (Net)4.70p - Paid on 15/08/17Last Interim Payment (Net)-Dividend Yield (Historic)10.00% OTHER INFORMATIONBenchmark IndexAn index of 100 UK companiesGross Assets£35.4mBase CurrencySterling AVAILABLE PRODUCTS SHA
sage in the hills
14 Feb 2018
Re: Why so quiet? Terrific yield was 10% at the 49p level.........now risen to 10.65 % as has fallen back to 44p .... but dont be alarmed !! ...as ,only two trades all day !!Fund size is only approx £24million .....but still makes a nice package for a bit of growth and a lot of income.SAGE
Alisco
23 Feb 2017
Why so quiet? I am confused as to why there seems to be so little interest in this investment. It seems to me to invest in low risk opportunities yet it trades at a massive 22.5% discount to NAV? Does everyone else know something I don't or is it the other way round?
dandigirl
24 Jun 2015
Re: DEAR KEN No - not my kind of thing although sometimes I can't help myself and it happens, unfortunately. But I do tend to steer clear of issues and things that can wind me up.So, in summary you wouldn't view Blue Planet as a Strong BUY then?
badnews
24 Jun 2015
Re: DEAR KEN Yes, quite. I'm not a big fan of wealth destruction. Perhaps it's more your kind of thing?
dandigirl
22 Jun 2015
Re: DEAR KEN Sounds like this is not one for you then?
badnews
19 Jun 2015
Re: DEAR KEN Since the trust launched the total return has been a whopping -47%. Source - TrustnetOver 10 years the trust has a total return of an emphatic -34.7% during which time a FTSE 100 tracker will have given you + 90.1%. Source - Trustnet.Need I say anymore or shall I recall some more of the pain shareholder have endured?
badnews
19 Jun 2015
Re: DEAR KEN Wow, you can't look and see for yourself??? Look at the performance of this trust since 2009 where by comparison global markets are up 100%. Then look at the portfolio turnover and the fund costs for this performance. All reflected in a demoralising discount which hasn't been addressed with a tender offer. The trust has had it's name changed, I think twice now, because the manager hasn't focused on a solid mandate. In my opinion the manager should refund the investment management fees for the past 6 years, and return the capital to shareholders.
dandigirl
18 Jun 2015
Re: DEAR KEN Please enlighten us. What issue do you have? It would help so we can judge for ourselves - and just maybe Ken would respond. Thanks.
badnews
18 Jun 2015
DEAR KEN Changing the name of this trust doesn't mean we'll suddenly start trusting you.
