A few weeks ago, I dug up a statistic that genuinely took my breath away. It came from VC-oriented asset manager Sparkline Capital – “Of the 1,495 US venture deals in the first half of the year, only 4.9% have been down rounds – a historical low!” My own view is that we are only in […]
This month I have four new fund ideas for Sharepad susbcribers. As always, you can find out a lot more about these ideas via my regular newsletter at davidstevenson.substack.com. But for now, lets focus on some alternative investment ideas including both investment trusts and exchange traded funds (ETFs) – notably music royalty funds, investing in […]
Our funds specialist returns with a star performer in the relatively unloved European equities space: Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust. He reckons now is the time to focus on fast growing European small caps. This week I have a relatively short note for you, outlining why I think now might be an interesting moment to […]
In these articles about funds, I have tended to steer clear of the many, many alternative funds listed on the London market. That is not because these funds are not interesting – many of them are – but because I felt their business model hasn’t entirely been proved.
Private equity fund in transition – new addition to Dynamic 35 Listed private equity funds have had a chequered record on the London Stock Exchange. On paper they are a great innovation, allowing private investors access to usually institutional grade alternative assets. Crucially they allow investors to put money to work in profitable, scaled up […]
Back in the middle of August I outlined two growth-oriented portfolios, comprising a gaggle of exchange traded funds. The first was a Global Trends portfolio, a collection of eight ETFs which aim to track a selection of key thematic big trends. To monitor performance, I established two live portfolios on the SharePad platform, with the […]
“While we have this euphoria it’s pretty hard to imagine the bubble breaking. But look at the data and you think this thing could go…” (Grantham, GMO, Dec 2020). “In every portfolio, you need to ask yourself what is going to be more relevant [in] five to 10 years versus today. The most interesting trend […]
Traditionally most investors tend to regard the division between developed markets (DM) and emerging markets (EM) as a simple divide. We all put more money in the DM but then try and make sure we have some, smaller exposure, to the broad gaggle of national markets which represents the developing world or EM for short. […]
This week I have a very adventurous addition to my list of 35 Dynamic funds. I admit that it’s not without risk and its recent track record hasn’t been fab if I’m honest but I think the seeds for a rapid turnaround are being laid and if nothing else a future redemption opportunity might provide […]
A new addition to the Dynamic 35 Aurora Investment trust I wanted to start this article with an immediate declaration. I am a non-executive director at my new addition to the Dynamic 35, the Aurora investment trust. As a general rule I tend not to discuss any fund where I have some form of professional […]
I have a new addition to my Dynamic 35 list of investment trusts and closed end funds. It is called RTW Venture and it is a venture capital fund which invests in life sciences businesses – mainly in the biotech and MedTech space. Its key differentiator is that it invests in later stage private businesses […]
This week I am focusing not on my usual subject of investment trusts but switching attention to exchange traded funds or ETFs. These are a useful vehicle for investors, and I think they can easily sit alongside investment trusts. What do I mean by that? Let’s say for instance that you want to have exposure […]
I do not think it is unfair to say that over the last decade we have seen a powerful shift in sentiment towards utility stocks, arguably in a very negative direction. For much of the last few decades, private investors could not get enough of these boring stocks. They paid out a generous dividend, seem […]
The safe bet on infrastructure: INPP (International Public Partnerships) Over the next couple of articles, we’ll be adding two new funds to our Prudent 15 list, both in the broad infrastructure and utilities space. My next article will be on a fund that invests very broadly in the shares of other infrastructure and utility companies […]
Witan – a long term buy and hold globalist fund with a value bias Investing should really be about simplicity. Take global investing. Nearly every investor should have some exposure to a globally diversified mix of developed world stock markets. How big that exposure depends on your risk tolerance and your own appetite for global […]
The SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust The idea of investing in a fund which will help facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable energy mix has spawned a small army of London listed closed end funds and investment trusts. At last count there are over a dozen such funds listed and with all of them […]
A smarter way of buying into the right kind of private growth businesses It is an unfortunate truth that more and more high growth businesses are choosing to stay private and ignore the public markets. Collectively we investors, institutional and private have done our best to make life difficult for highly rated , fast growing […]
Edinburgh Worldwide – a great long-term home for growth investors Investors in funds such as Scottish Mortgage will have noticed a very peculiar phenomenon over the last few turbulent weeks. On paper many of the growth-oriented businesses sitting in its portfolio stand on huge valuations (very high price to earnings ratios) which means that they […]
The Ruffer Investment Company – big bets on a global new normal “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen” Lenin Generally, I have a very dismissive attitude towards the idea of absolute returns funds. The concept sounds alluring, whereas the delivery tends to be fairly dismal. The key idea […]
A big bet on Fintech worth taking at this price – Augmentum OK, I’m not going to beat around the bush. l readily concede that now is not a great time, all things considered, to be talking about investing in a high-risk venture capital fund that invests in equally high risk private European fintech firms, […]
Kicking off with BH Global (BHGG) You can always read more about my views on funds at my blog www.adventurousinvestor.com. I update this most days, especially useful during these volatile times when new investment opportunities emerge very quickly. I’m not going to bore readers with speculation about viruses and volatility but simply ask them to […]
The genomics revolution and the appeal of Syncona It’s easy to get carried away with the short to medium term noise coming out of stock markets. The corona virus has sent investors in the developed world heading for the exit. But in truth some sectors of the giant ‘technology’ sector were already beginning to suffer […]
I must say I’m very excited to be writing for SharePad and ShareScope. I’ve been an avid user of both for more than 10 years and I know that both products are widely used by smart investors who want to a more in-depth analysis of stocks and funds. Many of you will know me from […]
