Edison Investment Research

Witan Investment Trust announces the appointment of a new emerging markets manager

GQG to manage a segregated emerging markets portfolio for Witan

Witan Investment Trust (WTAN) has announced the appointment of GQG Partners to manage £70m (c 4% of WTAN’s net assets). GQG is an investment boutique formed in June 2016 by Rajiv Jain. As at 31 December 2016, it had £615m of assets under management across three products: global, international and emerging market equities, with a focus on long-term, quality growth investment. GQG runs concentrated, low-risk portfolios that are benchmark agnostic. The appointment of GQG follows WTAN’s change of benchmark at the beginning of 2017, where emerging markets now represents 5%, having had a zero weighting in the old benchmark.

HBM Healthcare Investments: two IPOs and Q316/17 results

Public offers of portfolio holdings at significant upside to carrying values

Swiss-listed healthcare investment specialist HBM Healthcare Investments (HBMN) has seen a material increase in NAV from the initial public offerings of two of its private portfolio holdings, ObsEva and Anaptys Biosciences. Both companies listed on the US NASDAQ exchange on 26 January.

The Merchants Trust announces benchmark change

Performance measure moved from FTSE 100 to FTSE All-Share index

The Merchants Trust (MRCH) has announced that it will be changing its benchmark with effect from 1 February 2017.

European Assets Trust declares dividend for 2017

Fund pays distributions equal to 6% of year-end net asset value

European Assets Trust (EAT) has today declared its dividend for 2017. The fund has a policy of making distributions equal to 6% of year-end net asset value (in euros), paid in three instalments at the end of January, May and August.

Tetragon Financial Group adopts IFRS reporting from 31 December 2016

Incentive fee crystallised to be paid in shares, restricted for five years

Tetragon Financial Group (TFG) has announced that it is adopting IFRS reporting for accounting periods ending on and after 31 December 2016. IFRS NAV is expected to be substantially the same as fair value NAV, which TFG has been reporting since September 2015. However, moving from US GAAP to IFRS increases the reported NAV of certain TFG Asset Management businesses, principally LCM and Polygon, to reflect their fair value, and will crystallise an incentive fee payable to TFG’s investment manager, Tetragon Financial Management (TFM). This incentive fee will be paid in shares, held in escrow until 31 December 2021, and subject to a clawback mechanism. Based on fair value NAV at 30 September 2016, the incentive fee would have been US$27.1m, as stated in TFG’s third quarter report.

Deutsche Beteiligungs – DBAG Fund VI final investment; DBAG Fund VII investment period starts

DBAG Fund VI will be 86% invested after Dieter Braun transaction

Deutsche Beteiligungs (DBAG) has announced that it will invest up to €5.9m for a 13.1% interest in Dieter Braun (Braun), a supplier of cable assemblies to the automotive industry (one of DBAG’s core sectors of expertise). DBAG is co-investing alongside DBAG Fund VI in the management buyout of Braun from financial investor Seafort Advisors. This represents the final investment by DBAG Fund VI, which will be 86% invested following the transaction, and therefore also marks the commencement of the investment period for newly launched €1.0bn DBAG Fund VII.