Trust round up: CC Japan, Tritax Big Box, Tufton, RTW Biotech
CC Japan Income & Growth (CCJI)
Performance
The £404m investor in dividend-paying Japanese companies pipped the Topix in the full-year to end of October. Its net asset value (NAV) return of 25.2% and a share price gain of 27.9% over the period beat the index’s 24.1% increase.
The latest results extended its outperformance of the Topix and made it the best performer in its Association of Investment Companies (AIC) peer group since launch in 2015, boasting a NAV gain of 216% and share price return of 190% against a 149% increase from Japan’s premier index.
In the year to 31 October, the returns were attributed to strong stock selection and achieved despite a volatile market that included the sharp sell-off following US president Donald Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariff onslaught.
The top performing stock was optical fibre and connection manufacturer Fujikura, which benefited from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. But manager Richard Aston said ‘an important distinction is that its financial returns are being realised now and are not based on speculative projections’.
Financial services group SBI and videogame giant Nintendo also contributed positively.
Portfolio activity
Japanese stocks have become increasingly attractive to domestic and foreign buyers thanks to vast corporate governance reforms. However, Aston said ‘very importantly, firms are not merely shrinking to realise inherent value’ but allocating resources to strategic growth.
Over the year, Chikara Investment’s Aston bought into stocks that are growing strategically, and this has already paid off given Fujikura was a new addition to the portfolio. Optical technologies group Hoya was also added as was bicycle parts manufacturer Shimano, Noritsu Koki, which operates across a number of niche areas, such as audio equipment and healthcare.
Aston sold cosmetics manufacturer Noevir over competition pressures, Tokyo Metro was axed after a disappointing mid-term plan post IPO, and GMO Internet was cut as it fell short of CCJI’s governance standards.
Outlook
In the 10 years since the trust launched, Japan has seen plenty of reform but Aston said revision of the Corproate Governance Code this year will ‘encourage companies to move beyond basic reform and balance sheet optimisation towards more efficient allocation of resources for strategic expansion’.
This also aligns with the plan set out by new prime minister Sanae Takaichi, and the strategy followed by CCJI, to enhance the attractions of Japanese equities.
What the analysts say
Peel Hunt analyst Anthony Leatham said CCJI remains ‘well placed to benefit from several supportive trends: high-quality growth companies using strong balance sheets to allocate capital more efficiency; the resilience of strong domestic businesses less exposed to global trade frictions; and the undervalued corporate governance-driven winners emerging across the market’.
Tritax Big Box (BBOX)
Performance
The £6.3bn investor in large warehouses let to the likes of retail giant Amazon has enjoyed a ‘transformational’ 2025. It reported 4% like-for-like portfolio estimated rental growth during the year thanks to ongoing high demand for logistics real estate.
Rent grew from £313.5m in 2025 to £360.9m, with £52,8m of rent added by the purchase of a £1bn portfolio from Blackstone in October. Another £14.2m was added through asset management initiatives but offset by £24.1m in disposals.
In the 19 months since BBOX acquired fellow real estate investment trust (Reit) UK Commercial Property, it has increased the contracted rent by of the assets by 18%. A total of £415.5m of non-strategic disposals have been made from the UKCM portfolio.
Developments
The Reit currently has 1.8m square feet of space under construction, with rental potential of £19.6m and over half of which is already pre-let.
The company’s entry into data centres is also ongoing, and it launched its initial development in the form of Manor Garm in Heathrow, with the terms of 107MW of power already being negotiated. The asset is expected to achieve a yield on cost of 9.3%.
BBOX also has first right of refusal over a pipeline of additional land and grid connections in the UK, which could provide another 1GW of data centres.
What the manager says
BBOX chief executive Colin Godfrey said the fund is ‘driving rental income’ and the data centre pipeline has ‘moved forward meaningfully’, to deliver a ‘transformational’ year.
‘In support of our strategy, we have been very effective in rotating capital into higher returning opportunities, having now sold over £800m of assets over the past three years,’ he said.
‘With strong occupational interest across both logistics and data centres, the successful integration of recent acquisitions, and clear structural tailwinds supporting our portfolio, we enter 2026 well positioned to deliver on our ambition to grow adjusted earnings by 50% by the end of 2030.’
Tufton Assets (SHIP)
Performance
The owner of a £373m shipping fleet of second-hand tankers and bulkers reported a 4.2% increase in NAV to $1.39 in the fourth quarter, and 9.5% for the financial year-to-date.
This allowed the company to announce a dividend of $0.025 per share, for the quarter, to be paid on 18 February.
Clarksons data confirmed benchmark handysize bulker valuations are unchanged over the quarter but tanker valuations are higher. Higher valuations were reflected in the run-rate yield which moved to 12.8% from 13.3%.
Operating profit was up 2.6% on the opening NAV − an improvement on the previous quarter although analysts said it was still a little lower than usual.
What the analysts say
Jefferies analyst Matthew Hose said SHIP had $45.3m of cash at the end of the quarter representing 12% of NAV, which will likely ‘engender additional investment activity in the near-to-medium term’.
‘Such purchases may be in the bulker sector given the manager was keen to emphasise bulker opportunities at valuations below depreciated replacement cost,’ he said.
‘In the case of bulkers, they also pointed to ‘underappreciated positive industry forces’ and a multi-year investment opportunity with potential for rising yield and values.’
RTW Biotech Opportunities (RTW)
Sale
The £800m biotechnology and healthcare trust managed by RTW Investments’ Roderick Wong and Naveen Yalamanchi welcomed the news that pharma giant GSK is acquiring portfolio company RAPT Therapeutics, a California-based clinical-stage biopharma company developing therapies for inflammatory and immunologic diseases.
The acquisition includes antibody treatment Ozureprubart, which RAPT has advanced to phase 2b for prophylactic protection against food allergies that affects more than 17m patients in the US.
The deal will see RAPT shareholders receive $58 a share in an all-cash deal that values it at $2.2bn, and is expected to be completed in the first quarter. The price is a 65% premium to the RAPT closing price on 19 January.
RAPT is currently 0.15% of the portfolio.
What the manager says
Wong, chief investment officer at RTW Investments, said GSK’s purchase recognised the ‘innovative work’ being done at RAPT and the potential of its drug for those suffering severe food allergies.
‘This is the second acquisition from the company’s portfolio so far in 2026, following Boston Scientific’s acquisition of Penumbra…We think that 2026 will be a stand-out year for biotech M&A as policy risks recede and large pharmas seek to replenish their pipelines I the face of a cumulative $170bn patent cliff looming by 2032.’
Financing
Corxel, RTW’s largest private investment, has raised up to $287m from a syndicate of global investors as part of a series D-1 financing.
Corxel is a clinical-stage biopharma group which creates treatments for those with cardiometabolic conditions. It is part of a growing number of companies cashing in on the advancement of weight-loss drugs and its CX11 drug is an ‘oral GLP-1 receptor agonist for obese and overweight patients’, which is currently in a phase 2 trial in the US.
The company represented 6.2% of the RTW portfolio at the end of 2025 and is the largest private position, representing a quarter of private exposure.
As part of the financing, RTW converted its convertible notes into series D-1 shares.
Wong said Corxel’s ‘clinical progress, disciplined execution, and seasoned leadership team position the company for important near-term catalysts and sustained long-term value creation’.
