Athelney Trust PLC
Legal Entity Identifier:
213800ON67TJC7F4DL05
The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 214.4p at 31 May 2023.
Fund Manager's comment for May 2023
While the media has been focused on the outcome of the debt negotiations in the US, investors appear to be more concerned with economic data similar to that published by the US Department of Labour showing that the labour market in the US remains relatively robust. While this shows business is in good health it could potentially result in upward pressure on wages and present an opportunity for the Federal Reserve to consider additional interest rate hikes to address inflation.
In recent weeks, several other major economies have reported upside CPI surprises, either in the headline or core reading. In the Eurozone, the April CPI ticked up to 7.0% year-on-year and Canada's April headline CPI ticked up to 4.4%. In the U.K., the April consumer price index was an unpleasant surprise for Bank of England policymakers with headline CPI, although slowing from 10.1% year-on-year in March to 8.7% in April, was still well above the 8.2% consensus forecast.
Similar to the US, the U.K. labour market has remained quite resilient with the unemployment rate at 3.9% for the first quarter. However, wage growth as measured by average weekly earnings excluding bonuses was elevated, increasing during the first quarter by 6.7% year-on-year. This fuelled market expectations of further interest rate rises as inflation in the UK is now about double the equivalent US rate and significantly above that of the Eurozone. The expectation is that the Bank of England will have to raise interest rates aggressively beyond their current level of 4.5%.
All of these macro factors weighed on the market with the result that world equity markets were once again under pressure with the MSCI declining by 1.3%. The US however, managed a marginal improvement with the S&P500 up by 0.3% while AI frenzy drove the NASDAQ up by 5.8%. In the UK, which does not have the same exposure to this emerging technology, most of the indices were down. The FTSE 100 declining by 5.4% over the month and the broader FTSE 250 Index down by 3.6% while smaller company valuations fared poorly with the AIM All-Share Index down by 5.7%. The Small Cap Index was down by only 1.7% while the Fledgling Index fared the best, up by 1.1%. The Athelney portfolio, while also declining, was only down by 1.3% during the month and, after providing for ongoing expenses, the NAV was down by 2.1%.
During the month we continued to reduce our exposure to the property sector, selling down some of our holding in Londonmetric and Rightmove and using the cash to increase our exposure to Spirax-Sarco Engineering and adding Cake Box to the portfolio. Our cash holding at month end comprised 2.6% of the portfolio.
Fact Sheet
An accompanying fact sheet which includes the information above as well as wider details on the portfolio can be found on the Fund's website www.athelneytrust.co.uk under "About" then select "Latest Monthly Fact Sheet".
Background Information
Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl AM
Manny is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of E C Pohl & Co ("ECP"), an investment management company and has been a major shareholder in Athelney trust for many years.
E C Pohl & co is licensed by the Australian Financial services (license no.421704).
Manny Pohl and the ECP group has AUD2.7bn (£1.5 billion) under its management including four listed investment companies, three listed in Australia and one in the UK:
· Flagship Investments (ASX code:FSI)
AUD95m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au
· Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST)
AUD37m www.barrackst.com
· Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL)
AUD33m www.globalmastersfund.com.au
· Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY)
GBP6m www.athelneytrust.co.uk
Athelney Trust plc Investment Policy
The investment objective of the Trust is to provide shareholders with prospects of long-term capital growth with the risks inherent in small cap investment minimised through a spread of holdings in quality small cap companies that operate in various industries and sectors. The Fund Manager also considers that it is important to maintain a progressive dividend record.
The assets of the Trust are allocated predominantly to companies with either a full listing on the London Stock Exchange or a trading facility on AIM or ISDX. The assets of the Trust have been allocated in two main ways: first, to the shares of those companies which have grown steadily over the years in terms of profits and dividends but, despite this progress, the market rating is favourable when compared to future earnings and dividends; second, to those companies whose shares are standing at a favourable level compared with the value of land, buildings or cash in the balance sheet.
Athelney Trust was founded in 1994. In 1996 it was one of the ten pioneer members of the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). In 2008 the shares became fully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Athelney Trust has a successful progressive dividend growth record and the dividend has grown every year since 2004. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) Athelney Trust is one of only "22 investment companies that have increased their dividend every year between 10 and 20 years - the next generation of dividend heroes" (as at 20/03/2018). See link
https://www.theaic.co.uk/income-finder/dividend-heroes
Website
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