Stephen Tredget of Oakley Capital Investments (OCI ) explains why wide share price discounts on private equity funds like his are unjustified.

Speaking at the Citywire Investment Trust Awards this month where Oakley Capital Investments won in the Private Equity category, Tredget said the wide gap between share prices and asset values in his sector was caused by UK equity funds dumping small and mid-cap stocks in response to investors’ withdrawals.

‘Funds are having redemptions, they sell out of the smaller-cap universe first, that has an impact on our share price. I think that as time goes by the market will generally see how resilient our asset values are and as a result of that those discounts will naturally narrow.’ 

Tredget, a partner at Oakley Capital, a private equity fund manager, said the megatrends in technology and education exploited by the companies in its portfolios are‘ far more powerful than economic weakness’.