191: Weekly Investment Trusts Podcast - with Richard Stone (30 Dec 2023)

In this week’s edition of the Weekly Investment Trust Podcast, Jonathan Davis, editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook, speaks to Richard Stone, chief executive of The Association of Investment Companies (The AIC). We are grateful for the support of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which enables us to keep the podcast free. Section Timestamps: 00:49 - Looking back at 2023 06:22 - This week's guest 08:03 - Corporate news, announcements, and results 08:49 - Money Makers Circle 09:14 - Q&A with Richard Stone 09:55 - The experience of heading the AIC in recent years 11:05 - Key member concerns 14:11 - Cost disclosure 25:47 - Consumer duty 31:59 - Quilter Cheviot shareholder engagement report 34:17 - Corporate governance 39:41 - Liquidity in investment trust shares 41:15 - ESG factors and disclosures 43:27 - Challenges and risks looking ahead 46:54 - Looking ahead and a Happy New Year 47:49 - Close Trusts mentioned this week (with tickers): ThomasLloyd Energy Impact (TLEI), Home REIT (HOME), Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9), Chenavari Toro Income Fund (TORO), Geiger Counter (GCL), Biopharma Credit (BPCR), Downing Strategic Micro-Cap (DSM), HgCapital (HGT), Scottish Mortgage (SMT). If you enjoy the weekly podcast, you may also find value in joining The Money Makers circle. This is a membership scheme that offers listeners to the podcast an opportunity, in return for a modest monthly or annual subscription, to receive additional premium content, including interviews, performance data, market/portfolio reviews and regular extracts from the editor's notebook. There is no profile this week, but next week the Circle will feature Schroder Asian Total Return (ATR). Future profiles include the Witan Investment Trust (WTAN). Remember to look out for the latest edition of our new weekly email which summarises Jonathan's latest thoughts and the regular features available in the Circle. For more information about the Money Makers circle, please visit money-makers.co/membership-join. Membership helps to cover the cost of producing the weekly investment trust podcast, which will continue to be free. We are very grateful for your continued support and the enthusiastic response to our over 190 podcasts since launch. You can find more information, including relevant disclosures, at www.money-makers.co. Please note that this podcast is provided for educational purposes only and nothing you hear should be considered as investment advice. Our podcasts are also available on the Association of Investment Companies website, www.theaic.co.uk. Produced by Ben Gamblin.