3i Group (ticker: III) was founded in 1945 as the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation to provide funds for smaller UK companies. It joined the London market in 1994, but its shareholders endured a rocky first fifteen years, with strong gains in the TMT boom and in the run-up to the financial crisis, followed in both cases by sharp drawdowns. A rescue rights issue in 2009 put 3i's finances on a firmer footing. Then, in 2012, Simon Borrows was appointed as its CEO, and he streamlined both the business and its investment approach. In 2011, 3i invested in a Dutch discount retailer called...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
Patria Private Equity (PPET), previously known as Standard Life Private Equity and abrdn Private Equity Opportunities, celebrates its 25th anniversary as a listed company next month. Since its inception, its annualised NAV return is 10.9% versus 6.1% for the FTSE All-Share, while its annualised share price return has been 9.6%. PPET concentrates on European mid-market deals where entry valuations are between £100m and £1bn. It has nearly 700 underlying investments, working with many different private equity managers, but the majority of its holdings are with 17 core partners. Direct investment...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
After spending much of the 2010s trading at somewhat narrower discounts, private equity trusts saw their ratings deteriorate sharply in 2022 to their widest level since the financial crisis. While discounts across the sector have narrowed a little since, most still trade at wider than 20% despite their fairly impressive long-term performance records. In this article, we look at the history of private equity discounts, how they have varied by trust, and what steps each is taking to improve its rating. In short, while much progress has been made over the last couple of years, some trusts have ma...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
HgCapital Trust (ticker: HGT) was launched in 1989 and has been one of the best-performing trusts over the last 30 years. It invests in around 50 unquoted companies, held via various private equity funds run by Hg Capital, and specialises in Northern European software companies that cover B2B services such as Tax & Accounting, ERP & Payroll, Legal & Compliance, and Insurance. Over the 20 years to December 2024, its annualised NAV return was 15.3% versus 6.9% for the FTSE All-Share. Returns have been even higher over the last decade after HGT narrowed its focus from a broader range ...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
CT Private Equity (ticker: CTPE) was set up in 1999 to take on around £100m of unquoted assets from the Martin Currie-managed Scottish Eastern Investment Trust. After a couple of share reorganisations, the management team moved from Martin Currie to F&C in 2005 (F&C was subsequently taken over by BMO and then Columbia Threadneedle). Hamish Mair has looked after the portfolio since 1999 through all its various incarnations. CTPE was one of many private equity trusts that saw its share price savaged during the financial crisis on concerns about the high level of fund commitments and the ...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
ICG Enterprise Trust (ticker: ICGT) was launched in 1981 making it the second-oldest trust in the private equity sector after 3i. It was originally known as F&C Enterprise and then Graphite Enterprise. Intermediate Capital Group acquired the company's advisers in late 2015 and since then the trust has been known as ICG Enterprise. ICGT's approach has evolved over time and the last several years have seen an increased focus on mid-market buyout deals and North America. ICGT describes its style as 'defensive growth' and it invests in a variety of primary and secondary private equity funds wh...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
Private equity
The great debate about listed private equity trusts goes on. With some of the biggest trusts trading on persistent 40-50% discounts, the share prices either represent tremendous bargains or are advertising a warning that the sector is heading for a painful meeting with reality - but which is it? As regular readers will know, although I have long held a shareholding in HG Capital (HGT), I have never had much enthusiasm for private equity as a class. While happily acknowledging that private ownership in the right hands is often a superior business model, and the returns have b...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
Oakley Capital Investments (ticker: OCI) is a private equity trust that was launched on the Alternative Investment Market in 2007 when it raised £100m. It moved to the Specialist Fund Segment of the main market in 2019 and it is domiciled in Bermuda. This trust mostly invests in funds run by Oakley Capital, its investment advisor, and typically provides about 30% of the commitments for each fund. Oakley Capital specialises in European companies involved in technology, consumer industries, and education and aims to take controlling stakes in businesses valued between €50m and €500m, holding the...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
Pantheon International (ticker: PIN) was one of the first private equity trusts to be launched in 1987, raising £12m in its IPO. Run by Pantheon Ventures, it has produced an impressive annualised NAV return of 12.4% over the last 35 years, which is just over four percentage points a year ahead of world equity markets, and its net assets are now £2.6bn. Originally preferring a fund-of-funds approach, it began co-investing several years ago and together with other direct secondary investments, this style now makes up around 40% of its portfolio. Pantheon's full underlying portfolio consists of a...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
NB Private Equity Partners (ticker: NBPE) has a diversified portfolio of around 100 private equity positions that it has built up by co-investing alongside a select panel of 56 private equity managers. The trust was launched in 2007 on Euronext, joining the London market the following year. It was initially run by Lehman Brothers' private equity division but this was the subject of a management buy-out agreement following Lehman's infamous bankruptcy. The trust's focus has shifted over time, initially investing primarily in other private equity funds towards its current model of mostly direct ...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
© 2026 Money Makers