percentagegain
19 Jan 2018
Re: am I missing something? I also hold JESC. 61% growth in 20 months.I also hold growth stocks like SMT, JPGI and MNKS which have done even better over far longer time periods. (In the case of SMT I have more than tripled money my money in 13 years.)I am still significantly invested in growth focused trusts.But I now also have to try and strike the right balance between capital growth and annual yield.For me EAT is fantastic way do that.Of course an alternative strategy would be to forget income and annually 'cash in' part of your capital growth if income is required.But being a forced seller of stocks is never, ever a good thing. And while the tax treatment of capital gains is currently more benign than that of dividends, tax rules can all change depending on what way the wind blows.
marktime1231
19 Jan 2018
Re: am I missing something? Your counter-argument is a very strong one too ... why (just) invest in a 6% yield stock growing 20-30% pa when equivalent growth stocks are turning in 30-50% pa.I have been studying JEO, JESC and TRG for that very reason to add to my long term portfolio, while EAT is my go-to for pre-retirement income. All are highly rated. My instinct is that Europe's growth in core economies and recovery in areas with awful unemployment and debt problems will define 2018. At the moment I am leaning towards JESC but I think they will all do well, including EAT.
Stepenwolf
19 Jan 2018
Re: am I missing something? Hi PercentagegainI am 63 and going to be retiring soon - I have always taken the view that overall returns are more important than simply the yield. I have held this fund for 3 years exactly and in that time the total return with dividends reinvested has been 49.5% - annualised that is 14.5% per annum growth which is not too shabby during a time when Europe was supposed to be lagging the UK in recovery. Now the indicators are that Europe is in well and truly in recovery mode its not a bad bet, and a hedge against any awful outcomes of Brexit in the UK.
percentagegain
19 Jan 2018
Re: am I missing something? Interesting debate.I have been lucky enough to have been able to recently (semi) retire at 53.I have invested for 25 years and my instincts have always been to go for growth over 'jam today' by taking income now at the expense of some of the overall capital growth later.But now I need to supplement my reduced salaried earnings with income from my investments.My wife and I have to live off this (hopefully) for many years so I can't risk long term capital growth by going all out for a 6% yield in these income-starved times. I need yields of 3% to 4%, delivered safely and consistently with some capital growth over time. Certainly enough to keep ahead of inflation and hopefully more on top.My holy grail is an investment that can consistently yield 4% AND do the same again in average annual capital growth. I've held EAT less than 3 years, but I am impressed how it has so far been able to deliver a remarkably high yield plus very healthy capital growth.If it can sustain that over 5 to 10 years, year after year, happy days.I am amazed how quickly my viewpoint has changed, now that I need my investments trusts to earn me a living rather than double in value over the next decade!Good luck to everyone out there trying to make a few quid out of this investing malarkey!
Stepenwolf
19 Jan 2018
Re: am I missing something? As a general comment, the stronger EURO, weaker Sterling is also helping capital and dividend returns. As part of a balanced portfolio, this is a good fund in my experience
jsan22
19 Jan 2018
Re: am I missing something? marktime/Bahiathanks for your replies.perhaps I was a bit heavy-handed in my comment. I guess it's just that I don't think in terms of income, but overall return as you say.so horses for courses.I will say in defense of EAT/Sam Cosh the fund has held up very well indeed when the market turns South, (this might be why I invested but TBH really can't remember now!) but over the very long run personally I would go with a combination of JEO and TR.(JEO is very concentrated and index-agnostic - 15% in one holding at the moment, so yes it is a completely different kettle of fish)cheersJ
marktime1231
18 Jan 2018
Re: am I missing something? 6%-of-NAV income, rising 20% if we get a repeat of last year.It may not beat total return from a European small/mid cap growth trust like TRG, mind you it has been pretty good based on the last 12-18 months, but this is pointedly high income so there is no benchmark to compare. Charges are high but not extreme, a trim on scale would be nice.I guess I have been lucky, with the timing of my trades. I bought in the 900's and sold some last year when rapid progress settled down in the high 1200's. I'm hoping for more strong progress in the next 6-12 months, so I added recently because the income is my income so to speak.It is not for everyone.I am tracking other options likd TRG and JEO, what would you suggest?What did you buy EAT for before?
Bahia Prince
18 Jan 2018
Re: am I missing something? Hi Jsan22, I understand your point.For me though, having retired early, this Trust pays a very good and steady yield (6% of fixed assets as at year end, and as such is a reliable and predictable part of my income stream. I hold many other IT's for the same purpose, but this is the only one that is focussed entirely on Europe, and therefore provides some further diversification from my UK and Global based trusts.It never really concerns me if part of the income MAY be paid from capital. I see this as fairly normal for any trust that invests in smaller sized caps; smaller caps may not always pay regular dividends to the trusts, but may be very good growth companies that retain their assets and capital, and hence increase in value during growth periods. Therefore in such cases it is OK to sell some of the assets within the trust to realise a profit that can then be distributed to trust shareholders as a dividend.However, more recently, it seems to me that EAT has not been selling the component assets to fund dividends, but have been issuing new equity to raise the cash to pay the dividend. This does have the impact of diluting the assets overall by a similar value, but has the benefit of retaining the specific assets that may still be good growth.Not a very technical answer I guess, but for me personally, my EAT holding is about 3% of my overall portfolio, and I am comfortable continuing to hold it medium/longer term for the income stream. Others may think differently of course.
BP.
jsan22
18 Jan 2018
am I missing something? Hi all,just happened across this discussion and had a look as I held EAT for a while but sold a few years ago.I can't really understand the enthusiasm for this trust here and elsewhere. It has underperformed its benchmark over 3 and 5 years (substantially) and charges over 1% for the privilege.As others have pointed out, its dividend yield is not from the underlying stock, but paid from the company's capital, which is robbing Peter to pay Paul as the saying goes.Or am I missing something?cheers allJ
marktime1231
17 Jan 2018
Ex-div tomorrow Not that EAT seemed hard hit by the old div system, the impact if any of the first new quarterly div on sp will be interesting to track. It continues to trade at a slight premium while continuing to issue small new tranches from its block listing facility, so momentum in the sp must be coming from solid progress in the inderlying stocks. GBP:EUR remains calm. Might we get a 10-20p set back?
sharegardener
09 Jan 2018
Re: Quarterly Dividends - sg O/T thanks WDI hadnt heard of ASLI before (sounds like a european equivalent of Tritax though not a REIT).Very recent IPO and they just bought a logistics depot in Frankfurt from Segro. I'll keep an eye as I do hold some uk REITs. The european base sounds good but weak £ wont buy as much euro denominated assets.SG
Windlesham Don
08 Jan 2018
Re: Quarterly Dividends - sg Thanks all for an interesting discussion.With regard to Europe focused ITs, I hold JETI as well as EAT. I have also just subscribed to ASLI, which I believe will give a different property based slant on the region over a 5-10 year investment horizon.At the moment I am happy with these holdings to cover my exposure to the region, but I am always happy for comment or alternative suggestions.Regards,
marktime1231
08 Jan 2018
Re: Quarterly Dividends - sg There are lots of trusts with matching yield and growth of around 3.5-4% ... look at CTY for example, it is a relatively safe commitment and does it from natural income. Of course I hold stocks like those, but they make me feel like I am missing out on the cream.A trust which promises 6% yield is a very rare and special thing, especially if it does so while also growing 20%+ in a bull market. The issue is whether that is a sustainable commitment, whether EAT can deal with difficult market conditions and exchange rate swings. It only meets about a third of its yield commitment from income (I wonder if that may improve as holdings mature?). Many trusts sets aside a reserve to sustain dividends through the tough times, but not EAT at this stage I don't think on the grounds it can always liquidate stock to raise cash ... maybe that might change if there was a string of surplus years. EAT just about coped with negative swings a couple of years ago, and recovered ... where it would struggle is when there was a sustained decline in markets over 2-3 years. I guess I am betting that is not going to happen, not soon anyway.IBT is not in the same league.
The Dutchman
08 Jan 2018
Re: Quarterly Dividends I too tend to stay away from UT's, but I have noticed that the charges on many of them are now on a par with, or lower than their equivalent IT. This is especially true when you compare the OCF rather than the simple management fee. After all UT's/OEICS dont have the costs associated with being a company ( non-execs, preparing accounts, audit, AGM's etc) So for example when researching a suitable Jpanese Smaller co collective for my wife's SIPP I finally went for a UT rather than an IT, mainly because the performance was very similiar and the costs slightly lower. Also I never buy IT's at a premium to NAV -- just one of my personal rules/disciplines. !
marktime1231
08 Jan 2018
Re: Quarterly Dividends - Deep Thanks, a new one on me, added to my tracking list and I will watch for a few months.On first inspection it has issues, a declining NAV and sp in the last year despite a progressive and attractive dividend, but I will study why and whether there is an upside. Focus on Canada, why not, but not intuitively one of the world's roaring economies.I'm not aware of an EAT equivalent stock picker trust domiciled here with either North American or Asia focus, I wonder why, it would certainly get my attention if these came along offering 5.5%+ yield and growth momentum.
