Manchester & London (MNL) technology fund manager Mark Sheppard has slashed his position in Microsoft from 21.8% to 4.8% as software stocks reel in response to Anthropic’s launch of new automated plugins to its chatbot Claude. Commenting on MNL’s three-month performance on LinkedIn, Sheppard said: “We have underperformed the Nasdaq 100. We are disappointed. We predicted years ago that application software would be disrupted by AI but we felt that c-suite concerns on security, data and the enterprise graph would keep enterprise software safe. The market has taken a different view.” Sheppard told Citywire he thought Microsoft would be shielded due to it being a hyperscaler that is “growing very fast” but decided to “downsize that position dramatically”. Microsoft has fallen 14% this year. MNL shares have fallen 20% in the past three months compared to a 6% decline in the Nasdaq 100 index. The share price discount to net asset value has widened from 14% to 31% since September when it was forced to suspend buybacks. In October it hiked its annual dividend target from 28p to 40p per share to compensate for the reduced return of capital. Over three years it has returned 125% versus the benchmark’s 123%, according to Winterflood data.

Ceiba Investments (CBA), the £43m Cuban commercial property fund, is consulting with bond holders about extending their loans by 12 months to avoid a default and issuing more shares as the company grapples with the “severe headwinds” from US President Trump’s intensified sanctions which it says are “potentially catastrophic” for the island’s economy. Income from its five hotels and mixed-use retail and office complex has been “substantially lower than anticipated” which leaves it unlikely to be able to repay €5m plus interest due on its bond on 31 March. 

Syncona (SYNC), the £601m biotech fund struggling with a 41% share price discount, is “encouraged” by the recent recovery in the listed biotech sector. Its life science investments made a 5% return in the company’s third quarter driven by a 20% uplift of Beacon Therapeutics, following the private company’s series C financing round, and the share price recovery of Nasdaq-listed Autolus. Net assets rose 3.6% to £1.06bn with net asset value (NAV) per share up to 173.9p on 31 December from 167.9p on 30 September. Over nine months to the end of 2025, NAV per share returned 1.8% with the life science portfolio generating 3.3%. The fund manager has “actively engaged” with its companies to maximise value and the company is “well positioned” for significant NAV growth that will enable the return of at least £250m to shareholders as announced in October when it withdrew plans for a complete wind-down.

Alternative Income REIT (AIRE), the £63m long-lease property fund managed by M7 Real Estate Financial Services, says it is “riding the storm of recent market fluctuations well” with its shares up 20% to 78.2p since announcing a 10% dividend cut in early September caused by higher finance costs. The now 7%-yielder has paid a second 1.4p per share quarterly dividend in line with the new target of 5.6pps, covered 106.4% by adjusted earnings of 1.5p which fell 22% from 1.9p in the previous quarter. For the three months to 31 December net asset value rose 0.6% to £68m with NAV per share up half a penny to 84.5p. The total value of its 19 properties dropped £4.2m to £103.5m following the sale of the Applegreen petrol station at Crawley.

Target Healthcare (THRL), the £660m real estate investment trust that owns 86 care homes, says EPRA net tangible assets (NTA) per share rose 1.4% to 119.4p at 31 December from 117.7p at 30 September, mainly driven by inflation-linked rent reviews in the last quarter. Its 1.508p per share quarterly dividend was covered by earnings of 1.69p per share, down from 1.71p because of the £85.9m sale of nine care homes in September. Borrowing as measured by net loan to value fell to 15.2% from 21.4%, below its target level, as the group looks to redeploy the disposal proceeds in an attractive pipeline of high-quality investment opportunities offering net initial yields over 6%.

Custodian Property Income REIT (CREI), the £400m smaller regional real estate fund standing on a 9% share price discount, has sold a Glasgow office for £6m, 24% above the 30 September valuation. Fund manager Richard Shepherd-Cross said CREI bought Monteith House on George Square in its acquisition of DRUM Income Plus in November 2021. “With less than five years remaining on the current lease and some uncertainty regarding renewal with the existing tenant, we believe that without significant capital expenditure, this asset has limited scope for future rental growth,” he said.

Santa Monica-based activist investor Almitas Capital has reduced its position in Mobius (MMIT) from 6.6% to 1.9%. It sold down on 30 January a few days before the emerging markets smaller companies fund announced its next chair. The current chair Maria Luisa Cicognani has served on the board since launch in 2018 and wishes to resign at the annual general meeting in April. She will be succeeded by senior independent director Gyula Schuch who joined the board in June 2022. MMIT’s market value has shrunk to £94m from £167m after it was hit by 43% redemptions in November’s three-year exit facility. The shares stand 11.5% below net asset value, wider than the one-year average discount of 6.9%

Gresham House Asset Management, manager of Strategic Equity Capital (SEC), has cut its stake in the £145m UK smaller companies trust run by Ken Wotton, from 20% to 16%.

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