Trust round-up: BlackRock Energy, ICG Enterprise, ADIG, ORIT
BlackRock Energy & Resources Income (BERI)
Performance
The £193m trust outpaced its blended index, comprised of 40% MSCI All Countries World Select Metal & Mining Producers ex Gold & Silver, 30% MSCI World Energy, and 30% S&P Global Clean Energy Transition in the year to end of November.
In a turnaround from the negative return at the first-half stage, BERI grew its net asset value (NAV) 23.5% and its shares 28.8% over the period, versus a 17.9% return from the index, which it has now beaten three years in a row.
Key contributors to performance included Abaxx Technologies thanks to its role in developing software and infrastructure for energy transition commodities. It has benefited from the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and the rapid build out in its supporting infrastructure.
Unsurprisingly, gold miners were notable contributors given the stellar run over 2025, which saw the price of the precious metal rise more than 60% over the year. However, managers Mark Hume and Tom Holl noted the performance of Brazilian iron ore producer Vale which has enjoyed ‘higher iron ore output with lower than expected cash costs’.
Lynas Rare Earths is one of few such companies operating outside of China and benefited from higher rare earth prices and positive market sentiment.
Detractors included traditional energy companies, such as US shale oil producers Permian Resources which was hit by lower oil prices.
Portfolio activity
Hume and Holl reduced their exposure to traditional energy throughout the year on the back of expectations that a ‘well-supplied oil market would see oil prices trade lower’. They ‘significantly’ reduced exposure to exploration and production companies as they may prove ‘less defensive in a softer oil price environment’.
However, exposure to selective oil majors was increased due to their strong balance sheets and diverse businesses across production, trading and refining. Exposure to energy storage and power management was also increased.
The managers retain a positive outlook for gold producers given the ‘supportive factors we see as underpinning the gold price, coupled with a benign energy cost environment’.
Income
Despite the strong NAV and share performance, revenue earnings slipped 3.6% to 3.5p per share versus the previous year’s 3.63p due to an increased exposure to energy transition companies which tend to have a lower yield.
The dividend was, however, increased from 1.135p per share to 1.25p – an increase of 11.1%.
Outlook
Hume and Holl said the build out of AI data centres and infrastructure is coming on top of existing electrification trends, and energy demand is set to be met by multiple solutions.
‘However, renewables plus battery storage look to be a key part of the solution to meeting the near-term power needs and are also recovering from previously depressed valuation levels,’ they said.
Although the mining sector faces uncertainty around China’s economy, the commodity-intensive nature of renewables, electric vehicles and battery storage will mean metal supply remains tight, which will boost prices.
ICG Enterprise (ICG)
Performance
The latest trading update from the £1.3bn private equity portfolio was fairly subdued, with NAV growth of 2% in the three months to end of October, with portfolio revaluation adding £23m or 3.7p per share and currency gains totalled £10m or 1.6p per share. However, the shares soared 17.3%, which saw the share price discount narrow to 25% - a significant reduction from the 40% discount they suffered at the beginning of 2025.
The balance sheet improved as cash from sales was banked, and leverage declined from 10% of NAV at the start of 2025 to just 3% on 31 October.
The fund, which has limited company specific risk due to its largest holding being just 2.2% of NAV, fell victim to the subdued performance in the private equity sector and uplifts over carrying value fell to 11% over the past year from 19% in the 12 months to January 2025, and 30% to January 2024.
Income
The fund confirmed cash flows of £82m from realisation proceeds and £25m of new investments.
The board delivered a dividend of 9p for the third quarter, and increased full-year 2026 dividend guidance to 39p, up from 36p in full-year 2025.
What the analysts say
Canaccord Genuity analyst Iain Scouller said the strong share price rise and narrowing discount was ‘the market waking up to the potential ‘value’ reflected by discounts in the listed private equity sector, plus hopes for growing exit activity in 2026’.
He added that it was ‘good to see quarterly net cash inflow’ and reducing debt, leaving ‘the balance sheet in much better shape than at the start of 2025’.
The re-rating is justified by the strength of the balance sheet and expectations for NAV growth from exits in 2026.
Scouller initiated on ICG with a ‘buy’ recommendation and ‘given prospects for NAV growth would argue the historic discount should narrow to the 15% to 20% level’.
Abrdn Diversified Income & Growth (ADIG)
Disposals
The multi-asset trust has provided an update on its managed wind-down, completing two further secondary sales of its fund investments and private market assets. It has also sold the remaining 50% of one additional holding, raising more than £22.4m. This unlocked £1.3m of cash in respect of the fund’s undrawn commitments.
It has also entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreements for the sale of a 50% holding in another company, that will bring in £6.5m.
The board is expecting the remaining sales of its portfolio to complete during this quarter and further proposals will be put forward in March to place the company into voluntary liquidation.
Returns to shareholders
The trust holds £58m of cash and cash equivalents, and has remaining undrawn commitment of around £7.6m.
The board is considering proposals to make a return of capital of up to £43.7m to shareholders through a B share scheme later in the quarter in order to accelerate returns.
The board warned the amount returned to shareholders prior to liquidation will be limited by the ‘quantum of the distributable reserves available to the company’.
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT)
Performance
The £957m investor in European and Australian renewable energy assets reported a NAV decline of 4.7% in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting a 3.2% decline in NAV total return.
The hit, which confirms a 2.8% NAV total return decline for the full year, was blamed on a downward revision to medium and long-term power price forecasts. Longer-term green certificate and capacity market price assumptions were also revised down, though only had a modest impact on NAV.
Shorter-term power prices and green certificate assumptions also fell as market conditions remained tough, although the board said ‘these changes had a limited impact on valuation given the company’s high level of contracted and hedged revenues in the near term’.
Overall, revenues will be impacted by a ‘more conservative view of longer-term merchant pricing’. However, contracted revenues make up 88% of revenues in the two-year period to 31 December 2027 which ‘continues to provide strong protection against short-term market volatility’.
Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC)
ROCs are relief upon by a number of green energy trusts for subsidies but the government has decided to change their indexation terms, switching from the retail prices index (RPI) to consumer prices index (CPI), which will effectively reduce the subsidy and prompting renewable trusts to re-evaluate their long-term investment strategies.
For ORIT, the switch cause a £5m reduction in NA, or 0.93p per share, which has been fully reflected in the fourth quarter NAV.
Corporate activity
The board repurchased 3.9m shares at a cost of £2.5m over he quarter, and as of the end of 2025 had spent £26m of its £30m buyback programme.
The buybacks are part of its ‘ORIT 2030’ strategy to drive long-term shareholder value by prioritising capital deployment ‘into construction and development-stage projects which are expected to deliver higher returns and sustainable NAV growth’.
While buybacks are a ‘tool’ the board can use to enhance returns for shareholders, future capital allocation ‘will be more strongly weighted towards investments that enhance scale, resilience, and dividend sustainability’.
What the analysts say
Peel Hunt analyst Markuz Jaffe said despite the valuation declines ‘gearing was reduced by the successful capital recycling activities announced in the period, where ORIT has raised a total of £235m from successful asset sales’.
‘ORIT has been trading around a 42% discount to an updated NAV, wider than the Renewables – Generation peer group weighted average discount of 34%, and offers a dividend yield of 11.3% based on full-year 2026 target dividends of 6.23p,’ he said.
