Chrysalis Investments’ (CHRY) three-year wind down got off to a tough start in March with the market turmoil caused by the US-led war on Iran leading to a 17% or 28.1p first quarter drop in net asset value (NAV) per share to 137.3p. In an update the £420m investment company said the decline largely reflected the slide in global equity markets and that while US stock market indices, the Nasdaq and S&P 500, tumbled to year-to-date lows, they had since recovered by 16.7% and 10.7% respectively. Meanwhile the operational performance of the portfolio had been “generally strong”, particularly at Starling, Smart Pension, and insurer wefox in which the company has invested a further €7m to give it enough cash until the end of 2027. The position in Starling, the challenger digital bank that now accounts for 56.5% of CHRY’s assets, was written down by 12.4p per share although this was less than the 20% fall in its peer group on account of its online banking platform Engine winning a contract, its fourth, with SBS Bank of New Zealand. Klarna, the buy-now-pay-later credit provider, continued its stock market slide since floating in the US last September. The shares fell 56% in March, knocking 10.2p off NAV per share, as fears over disruption from artificial intelligence rivals added to the broader geopolitical and economic concerns and the company downgraded its profit guidance for 2026. CHRY said this was largely driven by the accounting treatment of its fair financing product and that growth measures of the business remained “very strong”. At 31 March it accounted for 6.3% of assets, the fourth biggest holding.

CHRY has also served notice on its alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) G10 Capital, saying the IQ-EQ group subsidiary would continue to provide portfolio, risk management, valuation and regulatory oversight beyond the 1 November expiry data on a fixed-fee, non-AIFM basis that was subject to final agreement. Having already served notice on fund managers Richard Watts and Nick Williamson at Chrysalis Investment Partners, the company intends to become self-managed from 20 August with portfolio companies overseen by recently appointed director Sam Dobbyn. The shares fell 6.5p, or 7.5%, to 80.8p at a 41.6% discount below the new NAV.

Patria Private Equity (PPET) has sold almost half its stake in Action, the European discount retailer in which it co-invests with 3i Group (III). The £885m investment trust managed by Alan Gauld sold £19.1m last month at the 31 December valuation to leave it with £19.4m. Action, 3i’s biggest holding, has seen its previously strong growth slow in the past year, pushing 3i shares to a rare 16% discount. “As was the case for its previous partial sale of Action in 2023, PPET took advantage of a liquidity window and completed the sale to right-size its investment whilst maintaining exposure to future upside,” said the company, which previously disclosed 3.1% of its assets were in Action at 30 September 2025, its largest single company exposure. PPET’s estimated net asset value (NAV) slipped 0.4% to £1.27bn in March with NAV per share off 3.1p to 864.9p. This reflected a 0.5% decline in the valuation of its investments, a 0.4% depreciation in the euro against sterling that was partly offset by a 2.3% rise in the US dollar against the pound. PPET has generated an underlying NAV total return of 11.6% in the past year with the shares, on a 30% discount, returning 6.7%.    

James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “Nervousness about Action has taken 20% off 3i’s share price so far this year, so it is good to see that Patria Private Equity managed to sell almost half its holding at the end December valuation. Action, which is a direct co-investment with 3i, has been a great investment for PPET. At end of September 2025, PPET was valuing it at 6.7 times its initial 2020 stake.”

Seraphim Space (SSIT) has published its monthly roundup of Space Tech news a day before the close of the £350m C-share issue launched last week. The £478m investment trust highlighted developments at seven portfolio companies, including the planned $2.4bn flotation of HawkEye360, its fourth biggest holding at 10% at 31 December, and the $355m acquisition of satellite antennae developer All.Space by York Space Systems, its second biggest position at 15.9% of assets announced on 30 April.

James Carthew said: “There are a lot of positive stories in Seraphim’s latest monthly newsletter, but the one that caught my eye was the progress of Zeno Power’s nuclear battery, which is said to be capable of delivering 3.5 times the originally specified power output and powering a Moon Base through a two-week lunar night when ‘temperatures plunge below -280°F, solar panels stop generating power, batteries drain, and electronics freeze’. Sometimes the science is just as exciting as the money-making potential.” Zeno was a 1.1% position at the end of December.

Stay a step ahead. Our daily newsletter brings you the latest on investment trusts and active ETFs. Subscribe here.