Athelney Trust PLC
Legal Entity Identifier:
213800ON67TJC7F4DL05
The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 227.1p at 30 June 2020.
Fund Manager's comment for June 2020
Our approach over the past month has been to sit on the side lines as we assess the continuing impact of Covid-19 on the economy and the progress of the Brexit negotiations. In spite of the widespread support provided by the Government and the Bank of England, many businesses are struggling to survive. The UK shopping centre owner, Intu was a recent casualty of the pandemic that has inflicted severe pain on the struggling retail sector, recently entering administration. Other companies have decided to postpone the actual payment of dividends in spite of having announced them to the market.
However not is all gloom and doom. On the economic front, recent news from Europe was encouraging, with PMI surveys for the Eurozone and United Kingdom rebounding, particularly in the service sector, in large part due to the aggressive monetary easing by the central banks. The Bank of England, consistent with the approach taken by the other members of the G10, announced a £100B increase in its asset purchase target during June.
The plight of business as they come to grips with cash constraints and a rapidly changing business paradigm, has been largely ignored by the stock market. During the past month the MSCI World Index and the S&P 500 were up by 2.51% and 1.84% respectively. The UK, European and Asian markets reacted in similar fashion. In the UK, the FTSE 100 was up by 1.53% in local currency terms while the indices associated with smaller companies fared much better as has been the case in recent months. The Small Cap Index increased by 3.02% with the Fledgling Index up by 2.99% as compared to the AIM All Share which only increased by 0.96% during the month of June.
After the excellent performance in recent months our portfolio performed in line with the overall market and was up by 1.70% during the month. After providing for the company expenses the net performance as reflected in the NAV was an increase of 1.38%.
Cash has been conserved, remaining at 3.6% of the portfolio at month end.
Fact Sheet
An accompanying fact sheet which includes the information above as well as wider details on the portfolio can be found on the Fund's website www.athelneytrust.co.uk under "Portfolio Details".
Background Information
Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl AM
Manny is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of E C Pohl & Co ("ECP"), an investment management company and has been a major shareholder in Athelney trust for many years.
E C Pohl & co is licensed by the Australian Financial services (licence no.421704).
Manny Pohl and the ECP group has over AU$1500m under its management including four listed investment companies, three listed in Australia and one in the UK:
· Flagship Investments (ASX code:FSI)
AUD50m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au
· Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST)
AUD25m www.barrackst.com
· Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL)
AUD25m www.globalmastersfund.com.au
· Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY)
GBP5m www.athelneytrust.co.uk
Athelney Trust plc Investment Policy
The investment objective of the Trust is to provide shareholders with prospects of long-term capital growth with the risks inherent in small cap investment minimised through a spread of holdings in quality small cap companies that operate in various industries and sectors. The Fund Manager also considers that it is important to maintain a progressive dividend record.
The assets of the Trust are allocated predominantly to companies with either a full listing on the London Stock Exchange or a trading facility on AIM or ISDX. The assets of the Trust have been allocated in two main ways: first, to the shares of those companies which have grown steadily over the years in terms of profits and dividends but, despite this progress, the market rating is favourable when compared to future earnings and dividends; second, to those companies whose shares are standing at a favourable level compared with the value of land, buildings or cash in the balance sheet.
Athelney Trust was founded in 1994. In 1996 it was one of the ten pioneer members of the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). In 2008 the shares became fully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Athelney Trust has a successful progressive dividend growth record and the dividend has grown every year since 2004. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) Athelney Trust is one of only "22 investment companies that have increased their dividend every year between 10 and 20 years - the next generation of dividend heroes" (as at 20/03/2018). See link
www.theaic.co.uk/aic/news/press-releases/next-generation-of-dividend-heroes
Website
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