AVI Japan Opportunity (AJOT) has seen 10.9%, or £47.7m, of shares tendered in its annual 100% exit opportunity following its merger with Fidelity Japan in November. The £438m investment trust will buy the nearly 26.9m of shares that were tendered at a 2% discount to net asset value at a price to be announced later today. The smaller company activist investment fund received £184m from its absorption of Fidelity Japan and its shares stand on a 2% premium above NAV. Chair Norman Crighton said: “Following a sustained period of excellent performance for the company and its successful combination with FJV, the board recognises some shareholders’ requirements to rebalance their portfolio holdings in the enlarged company. We are delighted with the outcome of the uncapped tender offer and would like to thank all our shareholders for their support, and look forward to future long-term success.”

James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “It feels a bit odd to me that some investors opted to cash in shares in AJOT’s tender at a 2% discount when the trust is actually trading at a small premium. It is less of a surprise that the number of shares tendered wasn’t particularly large. The trust is having a good run and the managers are upbeat about its prospects. AJOT isn’t immune to wider market moves but over the long term its fortunes are driven by unlocking value from its portfolio and the managers say there is no shortage of opportunities.”

Real Estate Investors (RLE), the £50m Midlands-focused real estate investment trust two years into a three-year wind-down, reminds the market it is open to a sale of the company following the launch of a strategic review at Picton Property Income (PCTN) yesterday. In a full-year trading update, RLE said, “we remain open to exploring a corporate transaction, including the potential sale of the entire portfolio, to maximise shareholder value.” Despite an inactive investment market in 2024 and 2025, made worse by “paralysis” in the second half of last year ahead of the November Budget, RLE has sold £26.9m of properties, reducing debt to £34.3m from £54.4m. The remaining portfolio of 34 assets with 119 occupiers saw rent collection stable at 99.3% last year but year-end occupancy fell to 78.7% from 82%, “due to known lease events and a number of unexpected tenant CVAs and insolvencies, most notably River Island”.  Most of the affected units already have strong occupier interest and the company is confident about re-lettings. Chief executive Paul Bassi is “cautiously optimistic” about the year ahead but said the board would consider extending the wind-down period to maximise shareholder value.

Polar Capital Global Healthcare (PCGH) fund managers James Douglas and Gareth Powell struck a bullish note in their outlook commentary in annual results to 30 September. “With policy fears in the US appearing to ease, and the key regulatory bodies such as the FDA functioning as normal, the outlook for healthcare investing feels much brighter now than it has for some time. With the sector at a 25-year low in terms of its S&P 500 weighting, and carrying attractive relative valuations, the outlook for delivering positive returns for our shareholders is extremely compelling,” they said. The £408m investment trust, which saw more than three quarters of shares decline an exit opportunity in a 100% tender offer in November, beat its benchmark with a 5.9% investment loss in the last financial year compared to the 7.8% fall in the MSCI ACWI Healthcare index. While sentiment was negative for much of the year it improved after Pfizer reached a drug price deal with the Trump administration. PCGH is the top performer in the Biotechnology and Healthcare sector with a 75.8% total shareholder return over five years. Shares in the US and large-cap weighted portfolio stand on a small premium to net asset value.

IP Group (IPO) chair Sir Douglas Flint is to be the next chair of insurance giant Prudential (PRU). Flint, a former chair of HSBC bank, has served on the IPO board for nearly nine years. He will retire in June having joined the £39.5bn Prudential in March as a non-executive director and chair designate. Succession planning has been underway for some months and IPO, a £500m investor in technology start-ups, will make an announcement on his replacement in due course.