Aberdeen UK Smaller Companies Growth (AUSC )

Performance

The £329m trust has reported a net asset value (NAV) total return of 6.8% for the 12 months to end of June, falling short of the 7.8% return from the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies including AIM index.

While the first half of the year brought strong returns, the latter part of the year blew the trust off course. Major detractors were subsea rental equipment group Ashtead Technology (AT), which fell on oil price volatility, while consulting group Next15 (NFG) suffered the loss of a major contract, and US tariff woes drove promotional printing group 4imprint (FOUR) lower.

Strong performance from construction group Morgan Sindall (MGNS), fantasy gaming stalwart Games Workshop (GAW), and pension consultancy XPS Pensions (XPS) helped offset some of the losses.

Portfolio changes

The board and managers reviewed the investment policy regarding the number of holdings, and changed it to comprise 50 holdings in total, down from the 50-60 holdings previously allowed. There were 51 companies in the trust at the end of June.

Dividend

The trust paid a final dividend of 9.5p, taking the full-year payout to 13.2p, a 10% increase on the previous year. However, the increased dividend is in part due to the number of shares decreasing due to buybacks.

Corporate activity

The board repurchased 12.5m shares at a cost of £62.3m over the year. This represents 16.8% of opening share capital. Since the end of June, the board has bought back another 3.5m shares at a cost of £18.3m. Deutsche Numis analyst Ewan Lovett-Turner said it was ‘one of the most significant [buybacks] in the investment companies universe in 2025 as a share of capital’.

He also noted that activist investor Saba Capital had a 5.9% stake at the end of June, having initially crossed the 5% reporting threshold in October last year.

Third Point Investors (TPOU )

Tender offer

The £417m London-listed hedge fund published results of its oversubscribed tender offer for up to $136m (£100m) as part of its reverse merger with Malibu Life Reinsurance that will turn the fund into a reinsurance platform. The NAV at end of August was $32.64, meaning the initial redemption consideration was $28.56, or a 12.5% discount, although investors will also receive the proceeds from the unquoted part of the portfolio when they are sold.

A total of 9.56m shares, or 55% of share capital, were tendered but a scaling back exercise meant investors received 45.8% of their tendered holding in cash. This did not include Dan Loeb, founder of Third Point and 25% stakeholder in the fund, who did not tender his shares.

What the analyst say

Winterflood Securities analyst Shavar Halberstadt said the TPOU deal will ‘live in infamy’ as a ‘cautionary tale across investment trust boardrooms’ due to its decision not to offer investors a full exit despite the drastic transformation from listed fund to insurance company.

‘Trapping shareholders in an incomparable vehicle in spite of clear shareholder opposition is far from best practice,’ he said.

‘The oversubscription of the redemption offer is a measurable indication of shareholder preferences, and we think it is quite clear that a larger exit opportunity should have been on offer.’

The trust came under fire from a consortium of investors, including Asset Value Investors, which criticised the opaque nature of the deal and the fact that Malibu Life was owned by Third Point Opportunities Master fund in the US, which TPOU is a feeder for.

Aberdeen European Logistics Income (ASLI )

Performance

The £238m portfolio of European warehouses has reported a 6.7% decline in NAV in the second quarter driven by the sale of its nine-asset portfolio in Madrid as it continues its wind down. The portfolio had been valued at €168.6m (£137.5m) at its last valuation but was sold for €146m (£126m).

On the positive side, the liquidation costs also decreased by 6.7%.

Disposals

In July, the trust announced the sale of its two multi-let warehouses in Germany for an aggregate value of €66.5m, or a 10% premium to the end of March valuation. The structure of the disposals allowed associated secured debt of €30.2m to be transferred with the properties.

Manager Troels Andersen also completed the sale of two further warehouses located in the Netherlands of €34.7m, or a 3% discount to the last valuation.

What the trust says

Tony Roper, chair of ASLI, confirmed the trust had returned over £119m to shareholders since the wind down start, with 17 properties sold.

‘While lower eurozone rates have modestly improved the macroeconomic backdrop, ongoing trade tensions, monetary divergence and geopolitical risks continue to weigh on investor demand for logistics assets, factors which remain relevant to the company’s ongoing sales processes for the remaining 10 assets,’ he said.

‘The Board and investment manager remain focused on balancing value, execution certainty and speed of capital return.’

Vietnam Holdings (VNH )

Redemption result

The £103m trust offers a full exit facility close to NAV each year and this year 4.2m shares – representing 17.9% of share capital – have been tendered. This is a slight increase on the 16% of shares that were tendered in 2024.

Background

The trust invests in high-growth Vietnamese company that focus on domestic consumption, industrialisation and urbanisation.

Deutsche Numis analyst Gavin Trodd said the trust has a ‘strong track record’ having outperformed its Vietnam All Share index over three and five years. However, he said ‘it is likely off the radar of most investors given its size’.

It introduced an annual redemption in 2023 ahead of its five-yearly continuation vote.

Ashoka India Equity (AIE )

Redemption result

The £465m trust confirmed it had received redemption requests for 2.5m shares representing 1.5% of the issued share capital as part of its annual voluntary redemption.

Under the terms of AIE’s liquidity programme, investors are able to redeem all or part of their holding on an annual basis.

However, the low number of redemptions is testament to the strong performance of the trust, which is managed by Acorn Asset Management’s Prashant Khemka. The trust is on the smallest discount – just 0.4% - in its four-strong Asia Pacific India Equity sector and is the best performer over one year despite the NAV falling 2.8%.

Over five years, the trust is in pole position with a NAV return of 143.3% although on a share price basis it is in second place with a return  of 145.9% versus India Capital Growth (IGC) with a 156.9% return.