Athelney Trust PLC
Legal Entity Identifier:
213800ON67TJC7F4DL05
The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 209.1p at 31 December 2023.
Fund Manager's comment for December 2023
Data released in the US was for the most part positive. Consumers continue to spend in November, with real personal spending rising by 0.3% with inflation continuing to moderate. The gain in spending was supported by a 0.4% gain in real disposable personal income, which reflected the fastest gain in eight months. The European Central Bank (ECB) delivered a mixed monetary policy announcement, acknowledging slower economic growth and inflation across the Eurozone, but holding the line on its monetary policy stance despite acknowledging that inflation is expected to gradually decline.
The UK economy shrank slightly in the third quarter with GDP revised down by 0.1% in the three months to September. This trend continued into October with GDP declining by 0.3% month-on-month, more than the expected 0.1% decline. Services activity fell by 0.2% during the month, while industrial output fell by 0.8%. While inflation at 3.9% was well below the 4.4% year-on-year increase in consumer prices predicted by economists in a Reuters poll and was the lowest inflation rate since September 2021, wage growth in October albeit declining to 7.2% is still probably at a level too high for the Bank of England (BoE) to contemplate rate cuts. The BoE repeated in its monetary statement that "monetary policy will need to be sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably in the medium term." However, the decline in the UK inflation resulted in heightened expectations of an interest-rate cut early next year which triggered a slide in the Pound and a rise in the equity markets.
Globally the stock markets continued their positive performance for the second month in a row as they responded positively to the improved inflationary and interest rate outlook for the world economy with the tech heavy NASDAQ up by 5.52%. The S&P500 also benefited from the positive sentiment in the equity markets, reporting an 4.42% improvement over the month as did the MSCI which was up by 4.81%. In the UK, the FTSE250 was the stand out, up by 7.99% while the FTSE100 was up by only 3.75%. The smaller end of the market performed much better, with the AIM All-Share Index up by 6.94%, the Small Cap Index up by 6.97% and the Fledgling Index up by 4.34%.
The Athelney portfolio performed well in absolute terms and as compared to the indices, up by 8.3% during the month. After allowing for expenses, including a substantial increase in audit fees, the NAV reflected an increase of 7.95%.
During the month we took advantage of the bid to take over Smart Metering and sold our stake using the funds to increase our holding in Impax Investment Management and Alpha Group. Our cash holding at month end declined slightly to 3.2% 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 a "Dividend Hero" being one of only a few investment companies that have increased their dividend every year for 20 years or more. See link
https://www.theaic.co.uk/income-finder/dividend-heroes
Website
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