Weekly Investment Trusts Podcast - with Tom Poynton and Dale Nicholls (16 Sep 2023)

In this week's edition of the Weekly Investment Trust Podcast, Jonathan Davis, editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook, talks to Tom Poynton, executive director at Baron & Grant, and Dale Nicholls, manager at Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS). We are grateful for the support of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which enables us to keep the podcast free. Section Timestamps: 00:44 - Review of the week 02:45 - This week's guests 03:25 - Corporate news and announcements 07:57 - Money Makers Circle 08:31 - Summary of results 13:28 - Q&A with Tom Poynton 13:38 - Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG) 19:46 - Private equity announcements 25:15 - Early stage venture capital trusts 30:00 - The renewables sector 33:39 - Outlook for discounts 36:04 - Cricket! 40:35 - Q&A with Dale Nicholls 40:50 - Disappointment for Chinese investment returns 42:03 - The property crisis 43:59 - Lessons from regulatory interventions 45:12 - The impact of geopolitical tensions on investment flows 46:47 - The attractiveness of valuations 49:36 - AI and the portfolio direction 51:20 - China's position within a portfolio 52:37 - Gearing level and policy 53:56 - Highlights and disappointments as trust manager 54:58 - The Long-term China story 56:13 - Close Trusts mentioned this week (with tickers): Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG), Round Hill Music Royalty Fund (RHM), Ediston Property Investment Company (EPIC), TR Property Investment Trust (TRY), ThomasLloyd Energy Impact (TLEI), CQS New City High Yield (NCYF), BH Macro (BHMG), Vietnam Enterprise Investments (VEIL), North Atlantic Smaller Companies (NAS), Balanced Commercial Property Trust (BCPT), Schroder Asian Total Return (ATR), Foresight Solar Fund (FSFL), Oakley Capital Investments (OCI), Literacy Capital (BOOK), Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT), RTW Biotech Opportunities (RTW), Henderson High Income (HHI), AVI Japan Opportunity Trust (AJOT), Menhaden Resource Efficiency (MHN), Castelnau Group (CGL), Golden Prospect Precious Metals (GPM), Middlefield Canadian Income (MCT), VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities (GSEO), Ecofin US Renewables (RNEW), Dunedin Enterprise (DNE), Pantheon International (PIN), Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF), NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF). 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. This week, as well as the regular features, the Circle features an in-depth profile of the Alliance Trust (ATST), as well as a list of fifteen large and liquid investment trusts which Jonathan believes look attractive on discount grounds if we are nearing the end of the interest rate cycle. 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 more than 170 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.