Trust results round-up: Schroder Oriental, RIT, HarbourVest, Schroder Innovation, Cordiant

Schroder Oriental Income (SOI )

Outlook

Schroder Oriental Income manager Richard Sennitt highlights the potential impact of US trade tariffs, especially in China, as his biggest concern for Asian markets.

He said the uncertainty, rather than the absolute level of tariffs, poses the biggest challenge, given White House announcements ‘can quickly be reversed, changed or forgotten’.

‘Asian exports remain a key driver for regional earnings so the impact of policy here, as well as the broader strength of the US economy, will continue to be a key focus for markets given the size and scope of tariffs,’ he said.

Performance

The £637m income-focused Asia Pacific equities fund lagged the index over the six months to the end of February on account of its underweight towards China.

Schroder Oriental Income grew its net asset value (NAV) by 2.5% over the period, far behind a 10.4% rise by the MSCI All Country Asia Pacific ex Japan index as it missed out on the rally in tech stocks, thanks to the launch of Chinese AI company DeepSeek at the start of the year. Schroder Oriental Income does not hold these high growth stocks as they pay little to no dividends.

The fund’s NAV has returned 572%, or 10.1% a year, over its 20-year history, versus 377% by the index, according to Deutsche Numis. This makes it the strongest performer in its Asia Pacific income peer group over one, three, five and 10 years.

Schroder Oriental Income paid its first interim dividend for the year of 2p per share, in line with 2024. The trust currently yields 4.3%.

Portfolio changes

Sennitt has been adding to Chinese stocks, with new positions in Baiju producer Kewichow Moutai and Anta Sports.

He also initiated an off-benchmark position in Power Grid in India, which has sold off recently.

‘It is a beneficiary of the growth in transmission capacity of the Indian electricity network, with renewable solar and wind projects needing to be linked into the wider grid,’ the manager explained.

Buybacks

The board bought back 9.6m shares over the six-month period, repurchasing shares when ‘the market price significantly undervalues the portfolio’. The shares currently trade at a discount of 4%.

The company established a £100m revolving credit facility with the Bank of Nova Scotia in the period. Meanwhile, gearing averaged 5.5% over the six-month period.

RIT Capital (RCP )

Performance

The £2.6bn global multi-asset portfolio, which invests in quoted equities, private investments and uncorrelated strategies, saw its NAV increase 0.7% in April. This compares to a 1.4% fall by the MSCI All Country World index, in what the manager highlighted as the third most volatile month for global stocks and second worst month for the US dollar in a decade.

Private investments buoyed performance, thanks to the IPO of Webull on the Nasdaq via a merger with a special acquisition vehicle at a material uplift to carrying value.

Improved disclosure

The trust gave further insight into its strategy as part of a shift to improve transparency under manager Maggie Fanari, who took over the fund last year.

She published a detailed primer on the private portfolio, which accounts for 32% of NAV, highlighting the key themes she is targeting. These include enterprise software, fintech, consumer and healthcare. It also provided more detail on the trust’s positions in Epic Systems, SpaceX, Airtable and Stripe.

Upcoming IPOs

Fanari expects the fund to benefit from potential IPOs of US fleet management software provider Motive later this year or early next year, and  cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, which is expected to list next year. Longer-term, Fanari expects the trust’s focus on privately owned high growth, quality compounders with leading market positions will pay off.

What the analysts say

Deutsche Numis analyst Ewan Lovett-Turner described the update as ‘another positive step in disclosure from RIT Capital’.

‘We believe the 29% discount provides an attractive entry point, given we expect it can deliver a resilient return profile to investors and is experiencing positive momentum in its private holdings, alongside improved disclosure and communication to investors,’ he said.

HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE )

Simplified structure

The £1.8bn fund of private equity funds is making a ‘strategic transition to a new, simplified investment model’ as part of ongoing efforts to narrow its eye-watering 42% discount.

Under the new plan, HVPE will adopt a ‘separately managed account’ (SMA) structure instead of investing via HarbourVest fund of funds, which in turn invest in underlying private equity funds. Deutsche Numis analyst Ewan Lovett-Turner pointed out that this had made the investment company a ‘fund-of-fund-of funds’.

From now on, new investments will be made via the SMA, in which HVPE is the sole investor, and which will then invest directly in underlying private equity funds, secondaries and co-investments.

Fund benefits

The new SMA will improve flexibility, giving HVPE increased influence on the timing and mechanics of liquidity. Overall debt will be reduced, with borrowing at the HarbourVest fund level ‘expected to decline materially over time as the funds in HVPE’s existing portfolio mature and pay down debt’, the board explained.

HVPE chair Ed Warner said the move to a simplified structure follows a doubling of the allocation to share buybacks and the introduction of a continuation vote in July 2026.

‘We believe the SMA will offer considerable benefit for shareholders, most notably increased board control and flexibility around investment pacing and portfolio liquidity, and reduced look-through gearing,’ he said.

‘With time, we believe this structure should help to reduce the discount to NAV.’

Over the past five years, HarbourVest’s shares are up 80.1%, which compares to a 293.6% gain by the average fund in the AIC’s private equity sector (the sector average is skewed by 3i’s (III ) stellar returns.

Schroders Capital Global Innovation (INOV )

Performance

The £177m portfolio of UK early-stage companies, which is currently in the process of winding down, has published a NAV of 21.86p per share at the end of March, up 9.6% over the quarter. This was driven by the sale of Araris Biotech to Taiho Pharmaceuticals for $400m (£297m), rising to $750m based on potential long-term milestones.

The fund received £18.7m in the quarter from this sale.

Capital return

The exit of Araris Biotech has contributed to an increased capital return of £30m, following the passing of a discontinuation vote in February. After the initial return of the £30m, the company ‘does not expect to continue meaningful realisations until the 2026-27 period’.

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD )

Manager change

The £712m investor in the ‘plumbing of the internet’, run by Cordiant Capital, said co-manager Benn Mikula is stepping down to ‘explore new opportunities’.

Shonaid Jemmett-Page, chair of the trust, thanked Mikula for his part in building the fund and said the ‘well-established and strongly-performing platform’ will continue under the leadership of co-founder Steven Marshall. He believes the fund is still ‘well-positioned for further success’.

Portfolio expansion

Cordiant’s growing Czech portfolio, which consists of 660 telecom towers, a fibre optic network, and six data centres, has commercialised its DAB network with the launch of a further six commercial radio stations, with combined weekly listeners of over 5m.

The network broadcasts from 31 transmitters, reaching 83.4% of the Czech population, and the network is now at 73% capacity.

Marshall said the expansion ‘further demonstrates the success and popularity of digital radio among listeners and broadcasters alike, and we expect to earn incremental revenues from these new radio stations, further validating our buy, build and grow approach to investing’.

Over the past year, Cordiant’s shares are up 25.4% which compares to a 4% gain by the average trust in the AIC’s infrastructure sector. Over three years, the trust’s shares are down 7.9% which compares to a 14.9% loss by the sector average.

The 4.5% yielder currently trades at a 26% discount.