US Solar Fund (USF), the £107m Amber Infrastructure managed fund standing on a 45% discount, has provided detailed disclosure on the technical, non-weather factors resulting in third quarter generation falling 13.3% below forecast, with just 2.1% due to below forecast solar irradiance. It said the majority of the 11.2% technical variance was attributable to the performance of the Heelstone and Granite portfolios which were affected by “downtime at projects identified for capital initiatives as well as utility grid outages, site damage due to theft, and parts unavailability due to supply constraints.” 

Pantheon Infrastructure (PINT) increased net assets by 4.1% to £598.3m in the third quarter with net asset value (NAV) per share rising by 5p to 127.7p. The gain was driven by “notable valuation uplifts” at Vantage Data Centers, National Gas, Intersect Power and Primafrio. Including the 2.1p per share dividend declared last month the underlying NAV total return this year has been 11.7p per share or 10.1%. The £511m investment trust managed by Richard Sem at Pantheon Ventures stands on an 11% discount and yields 3.9%.

Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income (SEQI), the £1.2bn , 8.8%-yielding debt fund on an 18% discount, saw net asset value per share rise 0.86p to 04.04p in November. It spent £23.8m on share buybacks and received full repayment of its £24.1m loan and all accrued interest from Bulb Energy, a former UK energy supplier. “This is a very good outcome for the fund, given the insolvency of the borrower in November 2021.”

Global Smaller Companies Trust (GSCT), the £769m listed fund run by Columbia Threadneedle, underperformed in the half year to 31 October. Fund manager Nish Patel oversaw a 15.6% underlying return that trailed its composite benchmark’s 21.6% as his quality growth style struggled in the speculative rush for AI and technology stocks. Shareholders saw a 15.1% total return as the discount to asset value widened to 11.6% despite the purchase of 11.4m shares. The portfolio underperformed in North America, UK and Asia Pacific but outperformed in Europe, Latin America and Japan. The interim dividend was held at 0.7p per share although this month the company cancelled its share premium account and capital redemption reserve to increase distributable funds for dividends and buybacks. The company has increased dividends for 55 years. Patel took over from Peter Ewins in May last year after he retired after 26 years. Over five years the company has underperformed its benchmark’s 70.4% total return with a 52.4% increase in net asset value and a 47% total shareholder return.

JPMorgan Emerging Europe, Middle East & Africa Securities (JEMA) says the lawsuit filed by VTB Bank in Russia claiming $439.5m against eight JP Morgan legal entities and the company has filed its appeal to a higher court, the Court of Cassation, which is now due to be heard on 19 January. Three other smaller cases brought by VTB are under a court suspension ruling. A hearing has been set for 28 January for a separate Sberbank claim of $830,183. 

Fidelity International has doubled its holding in Trustpilot (TRST) to 10% after the customer review platform recovers from a short attack by Grizzly Research earlier this month. Saba Capital reportedly had a short position in the company earlier this year.

Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) sees Saba Capital lift its position to 15% from 14.3%.