Money Makers podcast: 28 Feb 2026
Battery storage’s rollercoaster ride! In this edition of the Money Makers Investment Trust Podcast, Ben Guest, lead manager of Gresham House Energy Storage (GRID), discusses the challenges the trust has faced over the last couple of years and the need for a change in mindset by the UK’s energy grid management, with Jonathan Davis, editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook (winner of the AIC Best Broadcast Journalist Award 2024 and 2025).
You can listen to this podcast in full on the audio player below. Alternatively, you can subscribe via our YouTube channel and most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Soundcloud. You can also find us listed on The AIC’s Podcast Directory. We are grateful to J.P. Morgan Asset Management, whose no-strings support enables us to keep the podcast free and our editorial integrity intact.
Jonathan is now writing market and other comments on Substack (jdinvestor.substack.com), and for those of you who follow Money Makers on social media, two new channels are now available – TikTok (@moneymakers_its) and Bluesky (@money-makers.co). Do give us a follow!
If you enjoy the Investment Trusts Podcast, you may also find value in joining The Money Makers Circle. This membership scheme offers subscribers an opportunity to receive additional premium content, including interviews, investment trust performance data, market/portfolio reviews and regular extracts from the editor’s notebook. This week, as well as the usual features, the Circle features a profile of the CT Global Managed Portfolio (CMPG/CMPI). Future profiles include BlackRock American Income (BRAI) and TwentyFour Income Fund (TFIF). Our weekly subscriber email includes a comprehensive summary of all the latest news, plus the week’s biggest share price, NAV and discount movements. Subscribe and you will never miss any important developments from the sector. A subscription costs £12 a month, or £120 for one year with a two week free trial.
321: Ben Guest
0:01:23 – A difficult couple of years
0:05:45 – Balancing the grid with batteries or gas
0:15:26 – Government actions and motivating change
0:16:29 – Waiting for the premise of the trust
0:20:09 – A short break
0:21:12 – Migration in the share register
0:23:37 – Is being in investment trust a benefit?
0:26:21 – Activist shareholders and the NAV
0:32:36 – Overcoming the block to using batteries
0:35:37 – Skip rates
0:37:54 – Government rejection of zonal pricing
0:41:47 – Close
OUT NOW: The Investment Trusts Handbook 2026
The Investment Trusts Handbook 2026 is the ninth edition of the highly regarded annual handbook for anyone interested in investment trusts – often referred to as the City’s best-kept secret, or the connoisseur’s choice among investment funds. It is expertly edited by well-known author and professional investor Jonathan Davis, founder and editor of the Money Makers newsletter and podcast. The Investment Trusts Handbook 2026 is an independent educational publication, available through bookshops and extensively online. With articles by 30 different authors, including analysts, fund managers and investment writers, plus more than 80 pages of detailed data and analysis, the latest edition is an indispensable companion for anyone looking to invest in the investment trust sector.
We are an editorially independent research and publishing venture committed to providing high-quality investment information and resources. You can sign up below to be notified about the latest podcasts by email as soon as they become available. Please note that the podcasts should not be regarded as personal financial advice, but are provided for information and background only. We are very grateful for your continued support and the enthusiastic response to our 320 podcasts in the over five years since launch!
Disclosures about the editor’s holdings of investment trusts can be found here. Our podcasts are also available on the Association of Investment Companies website (www.theaic.co.uk). The producer of the podcasts is the brilliant Ben Gamblin – more details on him here.
Latest Money Makers podcasts
Money Makers podcast: 11 Nov 2023
In this week’s edition of the Weekly Investment Trust Podcast, Jonathan Davis, editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook, speaks to Ben Guest, manager of Gresham House Energy Storage (GRID), and Guy Anderson, manager of the Mercantile Investment Trust (MRC).
You can listen to this week’s podcast in full on the audio players below. Alternatively, you can subscribe and download it on most podcast channels including Soundcloud, Apple, Spotify, Google, and others, including now the Money Makers YouTube channel. We are grateful for the support of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which enables us to keep the podcast free.
If you enjoy the weekly podcast, you may also find value in joining The Money Makers Circle. This is a membership scheme that offers subscribers an opportunity to receive additional premium content, including interviews, investment trust performance data, market/portfolio reviews and regular extracts from the editor’s notebook. This week, as well as the regular features, the Circle features a profile of the Balanced Commercial Property Trust (BCPT). Future profiles coming soon include Nippon Active Value Fund (NAVF) and Fidelity Asian Values (FAS). A subscription costs £8 a month, or a modest £2 a week.
A topsy turvy week
0:02:11 – Review of the week
0:04:53 – Corporate news and announcements
0:12:03 – Summary of results
0:17:23 – Money Makers Circle
0:17:50 – Q&A with Ben Guest
0:19:23 – Battery energy storage
0:23:18 – Setting prices
0:28:09 – The outlook for power prices and volatility
0:30:05 – The dividend
0:35:09 – The discount rate
0:36:50 – International diversification
0:43:32 – Changes from the original prospectus
0:45:17 – Q&A with Guy Anderson
0:48:56 – Political risk
0:54:22 – How the trust fits into the wider landscape
0:58:42 – The investment style
1:02:52 – Changes to the portfolio
1:10:30 – Gearing
1:12:08 – The dividend
1:13:36 – The discount
1:14:49 – Close
Trusts mentioned in this week’s podcast (with tickers) include:
- Gresham House Energy Storage Trust (GRID)
- Gore Street Energy Storage (GSF)
- Harmony Energy Impact Trust (HEIT)
- Mercantile Investment Trust (MRC)
- Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9)
- Chrysalis (CHRY)
- Schiehallion (MNTN)
- UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM)
- Picton Property Income (PCTN)
- Home REIT (HOME)
- Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG)
- Round Hill Music Royalty (RHM)
- European Opportunities Trust (EOT)
- Downing Strategic Micro-Cap (DSM)
- Abrdn New Dawn (ABD)
- Asia Dragon Trust (DGN)
- RIT Capital Partners (RCP)
- Abrdn Equity Income (AEI)
- Henderson Opportunities Trust (HOT)
- Fidelity Special Values (FSV)
- AVI Global (AGT)
- Schroder Oriental Income (SOI)
- Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies (SST)
- BlackRock Greater Europe (BRGE)
- International Biotechnology Trust (IBT)
- Scottish Mortgage (SMT)
- 3i Group (III)
- 3i Infrastructure (3IN)
- Biotech Growth Trust (BIOG)
- HgCapital Trust (HGT)
- Regional REIT (RGL)
- HICL Infrastructure Trust (HICL)
- Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT)
- Riverstone Energy (RSE)
- Schroders Capital Global Innovation (INOV)
- Foresight Sustainable Forestry (FSF)
About Money Makers
We are an editorially independent research and publishing venture committed to providing high-quality investment information and resources. You can sign up below to be notified about the latest podcasts by email as soon as they become available. Please note that the podcasts should not be regarded as personal financial advice, but are provided for information and background only. We are very grateful for your continued support and the enthusiastic response to our over 180 podcasts in the more than three years since launch.
Disclosures about the editor’s personal holdings of investment trusts can be found here. Our podcasts are also available on the Association of Investment Companies website (www.theaic.co.uk) and Doceo (doceo.tv). The producer of the podcasts is the brilliant Ben Gamblin – more details on him here.