Money Makers podcast: Bonus – 24 Oct 2023

In this bonus edition of the Weekly Investment Trust Podcast, Jonathan Davis, editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook, speaks to Rhys Davis (Invesco Bond Income Plus; BIPS), Phil Kent (GCP Infrastructure; GCP), and Simon Gergel (Merchants Trust; MRCH), all of who were at the recent AIC Investment Trusts Showcase event in London. A further series of conversations will feature as part of the next regular edition of the podcast, due for release on Saturday 28 October.

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 City of London (CTY). Future profiles coming soon include Pacific Assets Trust (PAC) and Brunner Investment Trust (BUT). A subscription costs £8 a month, or a modest £2 a week.

A bonus podcast

00:39 – Introducing three guests
02:07 – Rhys Davies (Invesco Bond Income Plus Trust; BIPS)
07:49 – Phil Kent (GCP Infrastructure; GCP)
14:16 – Simon Gergel (Merchants Trust; MRCH)
20:04 – Close

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.

Latest Money Makers podcasts

Money Makers podcast: 26 Aug 2023

In this week’s edition of the Weekly Investment Trust Podcast, Jonathan Davis, editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook, talks to Max King, the market and investment trust commentator and former Investec fund manager. Jonathan also talks to Rhys Davies, manager of the Invesco Bond Income Plus Investment Trust (BIPS); the first half of that discussion can be heard in the podcast, with the full interview available below. We are grateful for the support of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which enables us to keep the podcast free.

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. For any listeners who have subscribed via Stitcher, please note that service has announced it will be discontinued. Please resubscribe through one of the other channels.

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 Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Trust (IPU), and a conversation with Graham Harrison, executive chairman of Asset Risk Consultants. A subscription costs £8 a month, or a modest £2 a week.

Nvidia lights up the equity market

00:44 – Review of the week
04:58 – This week’s guest
05:38 – Money Makers Circle
06:24 – Corporate announcements and results
16:34 – Q&A with Max King

17:09 – The markets at the moment
19:01 – Abrdn mergers
20:29 – Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund (GARS)
21:20 – Regulation and trust reports
23:01 – Private equity sector
27:14 – Commercial property sector
30:19 – Alternatives sector
32:02 – Equity sector
34:20 – Defensive funds
37:28 – Looking forward

40:32 – Q&A with Rhys Davies (Part 1)

41:11 – The last eighteen months in the bond markets
43:11 – Has the interest rate and bond yield cycle peaked?
45:24 – Explaining a soft landing
47:31 – Portfolio yield and potential total return
50:04 – Assessing high yield bonds
54:34 – Managing a bond portfolio

59:50 – Close

Trusts mentioned in this week’s podcast (with tickers) include:

  • Abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust (AUSC)
  • Atlantis Japan Growth (AJG)
  • Nippon Active Value Fund (NAVF)
  • Pershing Square Holdings (PSH)
  • BlackRock World Mining (BRWM)
  • Princess Private Equity (PEY)
  • CT Private Equity Trust (CTPT)
  • JPMorgan US Smaller Companies (JUSC)
  • Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD)
  • NB Private Equity (NBPE)
  • GCP Infrastructure (GCP)
  • Home REIT (HOME)
  • ThomasLloyd Energy Impact (TLEI)
  • The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG)
  • 3i Infrastructure (3IN)
  • HICL Infrastructure (HICL)
  • International Public Partnerships (INPP)
  • Blackstone Loan Financing (BGLF)
  • NB Global Monthly Income (NBMI)
  • Pantheon International (PIN)
  • 3i Group (III)
  • HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE)
  • Literacy Capital (BOOK)
  • Oakley Capital Investments (OCI)
  • HG Capital Trust (HGT)
  • TR Property Investment Trust (TRY)
  • Ediston Property Investment Company (EPIC)
  • BBGI Global Infrastructure (BBGI)
  • Capital Gearing Trust (CGT)
  • Ruffer Investment Company (RICA)
  • Personal Assets Trust (PNL)

Q&A with Rhys Davies

You can hear Jonathan’s full discussion with Rhys Davies in this bonus podcast. To continue from where the interview left off in the regular podcast edition, skip to 19:24.

00:45 – The last eighteen months in the bond markets
02:45 – Has the interest rate and bond yield cycle peaked?
04:57 – Explaining a soft landing
07:05 – Portfolio yield and potential total return
09:38 – Assessing high yield bonds
14:07 – Managing a bond portfolio
19:24 – The regional split between the UK and Europe
22:48 – Investing in high yield through an investment trust
25:48 – Discount control policy
27:37 – The investment trust sector as a whole
30:43 – Biggest risks we face
32:42 – Close

About Money Makers

We are an 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 170 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.

Latest Money Makers podcasts

Profile: Invesco Bond Income Plus

Invesco Bond Income Plus (ticker: BIPS) was created from the 2021 merger of City Merchants High Yield and Invesco Enhanced Income but through the former, it can trace its roots back to 1991. That makes BIPS by far the oldest debt trust and one of only a handful that predates the global financial crisis. It invests in high-yielding fixed-interest securities and other debt instruments, primarily in the UK and Europe. It aims to hold the majority of the positions it buys until they mature and the average maturity of its portfolio is roughly five years. BIPS has total assets of around £340m spread...

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