30 September 2026

Options span bonds, alternative assets, income and more.

By Emmy Hawker

Senior reporter, Trustnet

Interest rates across many developed markets are on the rise as central banks battle to bring inflation under control – with the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank both hiking and the Bank of England expected to follow suit in the coming months.

For investors, the question is how to position their portfolios for a world in which interest rates will remain sticky for the foreseeable.

Those seeking to capture the income benefits of higher rates while limiting sensitivity to further rate moves might wish to consider high yield bonds, which Paul Angell, head of investment research at AJ Bell, described as a compelling middle ground. In this sphere, his selection was the £1.7bn Aegon High Yield Bond fund.

“High yield bonds are typically issued with shorter maturities than their investment grade counterparts, making them less sensitive to interest rate movements and better positioned to adapt to a higher-for-longer rate environment,” Angell said.

Aegon High Yield Bond has been co-managed by Mark Benbow and Thomas Hanson since 2018 and 2019 respectively, meaning they have been at the helm through the pandemic and the subsequent interest rate hiking cycle.

Over one, three and five years to the end of August 2026, the fund has logged top-quartile returns against its peers in the IA Sterling High Yield sector.

Trustnet recently highlighted the popular fund as one of the most consistent in the IA Sterling High Yield sector over the past 10 years, beating the sector average in eight years.

Performance of the fund vs sector over 5yrs

Source: FE Analytics

Along a similar vein, Emma Bird, head of investment trusts research at Winterflood, suggested CVC Income & Growth.

Managed by Pieter Staelens, the investment trust provides investors with access to a diversified portfolio of sub-investment grade debt instruments – primarily of European large-cap issuers, including loans, high yield bonds and structured debt.

The portfolio is typically split between performing credit, consisting of core income investments, and credit opportunities, which includes higher yielding debt with greater potential for capital growth.

“As at 31 July, 77% of the portfolio was invested in floating rate assets, meaning the fund should benefit from a rising or higher-for-longer interest-rate environment, in the form of rising/higher income generation,” Bird said.

The trust is currently trading at a narrow premium to net asset value (NAV) at 1.22%, while its sterling shares offer a yield of 8.2%.

Performance of the trust vs sector over 5yrs

Source: FE Analytics

However, while higher bond yields can offer more attractive income, Dzmitry Lipski, head of funds research at interactive investor, argued that persistent inflation and uncertainty over the path of rates call for bond funds offering flexibility and diversification.

Lipski said: “Unlike traditional bond funds aligned more closely to a particular market or benchmark, strategic bond managers can adjust duration, credit exposure and sector allocation as macro conditions change.”

This means strategic bond managers can favour shorter-duration bonds when interest-rate risk is elevated, capture attractive yields in corporate credit or increase exposure to longer-duration government bonds if growth weakens and interest rates begin to fall.

As such, Lipski suggested the £1.2bn Jupiter Strategic Bond fund, which is co-managed by Ariel Bezalel and Harry Richards.

Given the fund’s ability to alter its interest-rate sensitivity, Lipski said “it could be a flexible core bond allocation for investors comfortable with active manager risk”.

“It can capture income from higher bond yields while giving the managers scope to reposition if the economic or interest-rate environment changes,” he added.

Performance of the fund vs sector over 5yrs

Source: FE Analytics

Beyond fixed income, Lipski also pointed to global equity income strategies. The emphasis on dividend sustainability and pricing power can provide investors with a degree of protection against the corrosive effects of persistent inflation.

“Higher interest rates increase the cost of capital and can place a greater emphasis on companies with strong cashflows, resilient balance sheets, pricing power and sustainable dividends,” he said.

He suggested Fidelity Global Dividend, which was launched in 2012 and is managed by FE fundinfo Alpha Manager Daniel Roberts alongside Tristan Purcell.

“Within portfolios, it could be a core global equity holding with a defensive income discipline, offering participation in long-term equity growth alongside the potential for more resilient income and lower volatility than the broader global equity market,” Lipski added.

The fund returned 61.6% over the five years to the end of August 2026, beating the IA Global Equity Income sector average return of 59.4%.

Performance of the fund vs sector over 5yrs

Source: FE Analytics

Looking beyond traditional asset classes, infrastructure and other alternative assets can also provide inflation protection and diversification in a higher-for-longer environment.

Matt Ennion, head of investment fund research at Quilter Cheviot, highlighted the £2.5bn International Public Partnerships trust. It aims to provide investors with long-term, inflation-linked returns by growing its dividend while also targeting capital appreciation.

Alongside government-backed and regulated assets, where revenues are often contractually linked to inflation, Ennion noted that even within the trust’s corporate investments, “many underlying assets benefit from inflation-linked revenue streams, providing additional resilience”.

Most of the portfolio (72%) is invested in the UK, followed by Belgium, Australia and Germany. It has just 2% invested in the US.

It is in the second quartile for returns in the IT Infrastructure sector over the five years to August 2026 and is in the first quartile over 10 years, up 53.2% over the decade.

The trust is trading at an 8.9% discount to NAV, meaning it “offers investors the opportunity to access a portfolio of high-quality infrastructure assets at an attractive valuation, making it a compelling option in an inflationary backdrop”.

Performance of the trust vs sector over 5yrs

Source: FE Analytics

Should rates stay higher for the foreseeable, then investors may also want to consider funds investing more specifically in companies that benefit operationally from higher rates, such as banks or insurers.

For funds in this category, Angell pointed to Polar Capital Global Insurance, which has £2.3bn in assets under management invested in companies operating within the international insurance sector.

He said: “Higher interest rates are not universally bad news. In fact, they can be highly supportive for insurance companies, which earn investment income on large pools of premiums before claims are paid.”

Rather than relying on traditional economic growth drivers, insurers’ earnings are largely linked to underwriting profitability and investment income.

“Polar Capital Global Insurance is managed by a specialist team with deep industry expertise,” Angell noted. “Within a portfolio, the fund acts as a diversifying global equity holding that can benefit from elevated interest rates whilst offering exposure to a defensive and often overlooked part of the market.”

Performance of the fund vs sector over 5yrs

Source: FE Analytics

Primary Health Properties PLC

Q3 Update on rental growth and joint ventures

Primary Health Properties PLC, a leading investor in critical healthcare infrastructure in the UK and Ireland, today publishes an update for the period to 30 September 2026 demonstrating continued rental growth, positive momentum in asset management and risk-controlled development and progress on our joint venture transactions.

Mark Davies, CEO of PHP, commented:

“PHP’s portfolio of critical healthcare infrastructure assets is defined by the security and longevity of rental income from GPs, the NHS, the HSE in Ireland and proven private healthcare operators, giving our sector attractive investment characteristics. We continue to deliver rental growth slightly ahead of our guidance and are encouraged by recent investment transactions in our sector at supportive valuations.

“We remain focused on completing the previously announced deleveraging plan and we are pleased to report that key transactions with our joint venture partners remain on track.”

Rental growth remains ahead of guidance

The Company continues to see an improving rental growth outlook, especially from rent reviews, with an extra £5.8 million of income generated in the first 9 months of the year from 480 completed reviews. This represents a total increase of 6.1% over the previous rent of £96 million, equivalent to 3.1% (target: >3%) on an annualised basis. All parts of the enlarged portfolio are performing very well with Primary Care UK +2.8%, Private Hospitals +3.7% and Ireland +3.7%.

Active asset management and development

The Government remains committed to the NHS 10-year plan and the creation of new Neighbourhood Health Centres, aiming to increase both the capacity for, and range of, healthcare services in a primary care setting and to relieve the pressure on NHS hospitals. PHP offers both the asset management and development capability to deliver this essential improvement in critical healthcare infrastructure over the coming years for the benefit of patients, health occupiers and investors.

We have recently completed significant asset management projects at our assets in Wakefield and Yeovil, both of which increase clinical space to enhance healthcare services and set a positive rental tone in the locality, and we continue to target further value generating asset management projects. This includes opportunities in private hospitals, such as the £6.5 million extension to Tees Valley Hospital in Middlesborough that has moved on site in the quarter.

PHP is currently on site with five new build development projects across the UK and Ireland, which all remain on track for completion on time and on budget. Our enhanced development capability means we have a growing pipeline of risk-controlled development opportunities across the UK, including a number of schemes meeting the criteria of Neighbourhood Health Centres and a strategic partnership with East of England Ambulance Service Trust for the delivery of new ambulance hubs, that are expected to be funded through the existing primary care joint venture.

Joint venture transactions remain on track

PHP has made further progress on its joint ventures since the Interim Results in late July. The transactions remain on track with financial terms agreed and due diligence complete. A further update will follow shortly.

Proceeds from the sale of assets into joint ventures will be used to pay down debt. The Company remains focused on bringing the key debt metrics of Net Debt to EBITDA below 9.5 times and LTV below 50%.

The Company is pleased to have completed the integration of Assura during the period and expects to deliver its financial synergies ahead of plan.

PHP’s portfolio of modern healthcare buildings, which act as essential infrastructure for the delivery of healthcare services in the UK and Ireland, offer secure and growing rental income in a market benefitting from long-term structural demand. With a strong track record of cost control, with one of the lowest EPRA cost ratios in the sector and a disciplined approach to liability management, PHP is proud to be in its 30^th consecutive year of delivering dividend growth for investors and remains committed to a progressive covered dividend policy.

I’ve bought 141 shares in AGNC, xd today for 1k, currently yielding 15%.

As this is high risk, the SNOWBALL will pair trade the position with another ‘share’ with a blended yield of 10%.

Supermarket Income REIT Targets Next Phase of Growth with £2bn Portfolio Established

Fiona Craig

LSE:SUPR

29 September 2026

Supermarket Income REIT (LSE:SUPR) is entering its next phase of growth with a portfolio now established at over £2 billion, a strong financial performance and ambitions to more than double the scale of the business over the coming years.

The company delivered a 7.5% total accounting return for the year, while continued acquisition activity has helped expand earnings and strengthen the platform for future dividend growth.

Speaking to ADVFN’s Watch List, Rob Abraham, CEO of Supermarket Income REIT, highlighted the role of acquisitions and the company’s growing scale in driving performance.

Acquisitions driving earnings growth

According to Abraham, the company’s strong performance has been underpinned by an active approach to acquisitions and the development of a more efficient investment platform.

A key step has been the establishment of a joint venture with Blue Owl Capital, which has now been scaled to £855 million.

The structure has enabled Supermarket Income REIT to recycle capital and reinvest proceeds into further earnings-enhancing acquisitions, creating additional capacity for growth.

The objective is not simply to expand the property portfolio, but to build the earnings base needed to support sustainable dividend growth.

Supermarket Income REIT has also set a target of at least 2% annual dividend growth from FY2027, with the growing scale of the platform helping to support that ambition.

Abraham also pointed to the benefits of scale, with the company continuing to build an efficient operating platform and improve its cost ratio as the portfolio grows.

A £4bn opportunity

With the portfolio now over £2 billion, Supermarket Income REIT has set its sights considerably higher, targeting £4 billion and beyond.

The opportunity extends across the wider grocery property market, where the company believes its sector specialism gives it the ability to identify and underwrite opportunities across a broad range of assets.

That includes traditional large-format supermarkets, which remain an important part of the strategy, alongside smaller-format and convenience stores.

The company is also looking further along the grocery supply chain, including grocery logistics properties and distribution warehouses that support store networks.

There is also potential to expand the strategy into European markets.

Maintaining quality as the portfolio grows

Importantly, the strategy is not simply about increasing the size of the portfolio.

Supermarket Income REIT intends to maintain a strong quality profile as it scales, using a combination of lease length, tenant quality and investment-grade characteristics when assessing opportunities.

Abraham outlined a target portfolio structure of approximately:

• 90% grocery income
• Around 12 years average lease length
• Around 80% inflation-linked income
• Around 70% investment-grade income

This provides a clear framework for how the company intends to grow while maintaining the defensive characteristics of its existing portfolio.

The focus remains on properties operated by leading grocery businesses, with Supermarket Income REIT targeting some of the most important and mission-critical assets within their networks.

Building on a strong platform

With a £2 billion portfolio already established, an £855 million joint venture vehicle and a clear ambition to reach £4 billion and beyond, Supermarket Income REIT is positioning itself for another stage of expansion.

The combination of acquisition-led earnings growth, increasing scale and a focus on long-duration, inflation-linked grocery income provides the foundation for the company’s next phase.

For investors following the UK real estate sector, Supermarket Income REIT’s progress will be closely linked to its ability to continue deploying capital into attractive grocery property opportunities while maintaining the quality and resilience of its income base.

As Rob Abraham explains, the strategy is ultimately about using scale to grow earnings, support dividends and build a larger portfolio while retaining the attractive fundamentals that have defined Supermarket Income REIT to date.

For more information visit Supermarket Income REIT

This article was written by the editorial team at InvestorsHub/ADVFN

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: September 28, 2026

Today I want to talk about something we don’t touch on very often in these columns: an obscure (yet highly profitable) situation called a “tender offer.”

I know the name sounds a bit stiff. But if one comes along when you hold a closed-end fund (CEF)—particularly a CEF you bought when it was particularly oversold—wow.

You can find yourself sitting on a fast gain as well as a high dividend payout (as I write this, the average CEF yields around 9%).

As we’ll see in the case of one CEF below, a tender offer can take a fund purchased at an 11.5% discount and let the shareholder cash in a chunk of their holding at nearly full value.

Before I get into a tender offer one group of investors is getting a shot at now, let’s break down this happy turn of events, and look at the simple way you can boost your odds of benefiting from one yourself.

We’ll do that by first putting one of the main features of CEFs on the table: the fact that these funds generally have a fixed number of shares throughout their lives. That’s why CEFs are “closed.” ETFs, by contrast, are “open,” since they can issue as many new shares as the market will buy.

The main effect of this is that CEFs often trade at different levels in relation to their net asset value (NAV, or the value of their underlying portfolios), and often at a discount.

Which brings us to the Virtus Dividend, Interest & Premium Strategy Fund (NFJ), a CEF at the center of a recent (and quite rich) tender offer.

NFJ’s shares trade at a 5.4% discount to NAV as I write this. This means we can buy the stocks this fund holds—including Alphabet (GOOGL), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), the Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) and Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY)—for 5.4% less than if we’d bought those shares on the market.

Lately, that discount has been narrowing:

NFJ’s Discount Approaches Par

As you can see, NFJ has traded at a much wider discount in the past year, and in fact its average discount over the last decade is 11.5%.

Right now, NFJ yields 8%, which is normal for this fund. And if you buy when it’s at a wide discount and then sell at a smaller discount (or premium), you also set yourself up for gains. This is the magic of CEF investing. And a tender offer, in essence, supercharges it.

Source: Virtus Funds

NFJ, as you can see above, mostly holds large-cap stocks across sectors, making it a decent replacement for an S&P 500 index fund. That is, except for a critical detail: that 8% income stream. Most index funds pay around 1%. We’re obviously not retiring on that.

There’s a catch, though: NFJ has underperformed the S&P 500 in the long run:

NFJ: A Strong Fund, But Only for Short Periods

With this in mind, the best strategy is to hold NFJ for short periods and collect income while profiting from changes in the discount. CEF managers (including those at NFJ) are aware of this—and they’ll do what they can to ensure discounts don’t stay too wide for too long.

If they fail to narrow those markdowns, they open the door for activist investors to come in, buy up shares and force a vote that could remove those managers.

How NFJ’s Tender Offer Works

This was the situation for NFJ, which is why management announced a tender offer. This offer is the result of an agreement with activist investor Saba Capital Management.

Under NFJ’s offer, which opened on September 1, 2026, the fund aims to buy back up to 25% of its outstanding shares at 99% of its NAV at the close of trading on October 5 (the offer’s expiration date). If investors holding more than 25% of NFJ’s shares outstanding tender their holdings, management will buy them on a pro rata basis.

If you bought at a wider discount than that at which the fund is buying (again, just 1% below NAV)—and with a 10-year average discount of 11.5%, most long-term holders did—you get to cash in at close to full value. Essentially, the average buyer over the last decade picked up the fund for 88.5 cents on the dollar and can now tender at 99 cents.

Note that you have to elect to tender through your broker.

I think you’ll agree that this is a nice upside kicker. And of course it comes alongside any other gains you booked from the fund, as well as the dividends collected (noting, of course, that the payout has risen about 36% in the last five years, with a special dividend issued, too).

(That also, of course, means that if you buy near the current discount, you’ll get a smaller return from the tender offer than those who bought earlier, at bigger discounts, would.)

So where does that leave us? I like to think of tender offers the same way we would a takeover in a regular stock. They unlock value, but we can’t, of course, invest only with the hope of attracting one. The best thing to do is buy cheap, which puts us in a better position to profit if and when one comes along.

Thursday 1 October

Custodian Property Income REIT PLC ex-dividend date
F&C Investment Trust PLC ex-dividend date
Henderson Smaller Cos Investment Trust PLC ex-dividend date
Invesco Asia Dragon Trust PLC ex-dividend date
International Trust PLC ex-dividend date

Murray International Trust PLC ex-dividend date

North American Income Trust PLC ex-dividend date
Pantheon Infrastructure ex-dividend date
Polar Capital Global Financials Trust PLC ex-dividend date
RIT Capital Partners PLC ex-dividend date
RM Infrastructure Income ex-dividend date
Schroder Income Growth Fund PLC ex-dividend date
Schroder Japan Trust PLC ex-dividend date
Value & Indexed Property Income Trust PLC ex-dividend date
Murray International Trust PLC ex-dividend date

I have bought an opening position in PCT. (see earlier post)

28 Shares for £200.The purchases will make very little difference to the SNOWBALL until a meaningful amount is invested.

Results analysis: Octopus Renewables Infrastructure

ORIT remains on track to pay its target dividend.

Alan Ray

Updated 25 Sep 2026

Disclaimer

Disclosure – Non-Independent Marketing Communication

This is a non-independent marketing communication commissioned by Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT). The report has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and is not subject to any prohibition on the dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research.

• Octopus Renewables Infrastructure’s (ORIT) interim results to 30/06/2026 show a NAV total return of -5.0% and a share price total return of 13.7%.
• ORIT remains on track to meet its dividend target for the financial year ending 31/12/2026 of 6.23p (2025: 6.17p), with two interim dividends totalling 3.11p already declared. In the first half, dividend cover from operational cash flows increased to 1.38x (H1 2025: 1.19x). At the current share price (as at 24/09/2026), the yield is c. 10%.
• The NAV per share was 86.2p (31/12/2025: 93.8p), a c. 8% decline. Net assets therefore fell to £455m from £495m. The main components of this reduction were a review of ORIT’s onshore wind assets, which updated future assumptions about their yield using the latest operational and technical data. This led to a reduction in net assets of ~£30m. Other contributors were lower long-term power price forecasts and increased discount rates.
• ORIT’s weighted average discount rate increased to 8.3% (31/12/2025: 7.8%). This is calculated on operational assets; factoring in the developer company assets, as well as the impacts of FX and the RCF, the adjusted discount rate was 8.8% (31/12/2025: 8.2%). The increase is a result of sustained changes in market conditions and transaction evidence observed during the period.
• ORIT was geared 46.6% of gross asset value (GAV, 31/12/2025: 44.8%) or 87% as a percentage of NAV. The increase is a result of the lower GAV, and overall debt was reduced by £5.3m to £396.8m through a combination of scheduled amortisation and voluntary prepayments, partially offset by an increase in the utilisation of the RCF. Although gearing can fluctuate, the medium-term goal is to reduce gearing to 40%.
• Capital allocation: there were no new investments or disposals during the period, although a number of new investment opportunities were assessed and rejected, largely on pricing grounds. A follow-on commitment of £5.7m was made to the UK solar pipeline in June, developed with BLC Energy, taking the total to £10.4m.
• ORIT is an Article 9 impact fund under SFDR. Impact highlights in the first half include 154k estimated equivalent tonnes of CO2 avoided (H1 2025: 165k) and 16,853 people benefiting from ORIT’s social initiatives, up significantly from 4,034 in H1 2025.
• Phil Austin, chair, said: “The first half of 2026 was challenging for ORIT, with NAV affected by the revised onshore wind yield assumptions, lower power-price forecasts and higher discount rates. Despite this, the underlying portfolio continued to generate strong, predictable cash flows.
• “We remain on track to deliver our increased FY 2026 dividend target, with dividends fully covered by operational cash flows during the period. Shareholders also saw a rising share price and a narrowing discount to NAV, although the discount remains a key focus for the Board.
• “We remain confident in the strength and diversification of the portfolio. With 86% of near-term revenues fixed or contracted, it continues to provide strong visibility and resilience, while recent M&A activity provides further evidence of the value within renewable infrastructure. Our focus remains on disciplined execution of ORIT 2030: completing asset sales, reducing gearing and selectively pursuing investments that deliver value for shareholders.”

Kepler View

From an Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT) specific perspective, this was a difficult first half, with a technical reassessment of the onshore wind portfolio leading to a significant reduction in NAV. However, what we can now say is that the valuation is rooted in actual technical data from the specific assets in question, with ORIT’s more mature solar assets and offshore wind assets already valued this way, and with just some of its more recently commissioned solar assets, which are performing in line with expectations, relying on pre-construction forecasts for their valuation. While no disposals were made in H1, the team reports that, while the listed renewables infrastructure trusts remain at wide discounts, in the wider world of renewables it sees an improvement in sentiment and there is demand for good-quality assets, albeit transactions are taking longer and are subject to rigorous scrutiny. The team has various sales processes underway and expects the next asset sales to complete in late 2026 or early 2027.

From a big-picture perspective, 2026 is unfolding as an important year for renewables. Whereas electricity demand in the UK and elsewhere has remained relatively constant for some time, all of the signs are that the electrification of the global economy is picking up pace, and there can be few investors who aren’t aware of the enormous challenge that the growth in datacentres will place on electricity grids. Yes, it’s true that investment is going into other forms of power generation, such as nuclear and even fusion, and these tend to attract headlines. But these remain enormously expensive, time-consuming to build or technically unproven, or combine all three characteristics. Renewables, combined with battery storage, by contrast, are proven technologies with large installed bases across many grids that are, even without subsidy, relatively cost-effective and quick to build. Yes, there are challenges, such as the need to upgrade power grids, the global demand for various common and uncommon metals and materials, and risks to supply chains, but those still need to be seen in the context of proven technology, where the engineering challenges are all well understood.

An understandable investor frustration with the listed sector is that 2026 also saw power price spikes caused by the unstable, difficult-to-predict crisis in the Persian Gulf, which continues to haunt energy markets. ORIT’s strategy of fixing the majority of its revenues (86% are fixed over the next two years to 30 June 2028) means it has limited exposure to short-term power-price spikes, but this is a function of one of its core propositions: a stable, growing dividend. It’s notable that although overall power generation was broadly on budget, revenue and EBITDA were slightly ahead as a result of incremental management actions. As a result, dividend cover has increased, and thus ORIT has delivered on one of its central objectives.

So, without downplaying that this has been a tough first half, ORIT now has a portfolio diversified across multiple European jurisdictions and operates a range of technologies that are all well understood from an operational and construction point of view, with relatively predictable economics. This is against a backdrop where electricity demand is starting to ramp up as the AI-datacentre build-out continues at pace. If that demand scenario plays out, then ORIT’s discount of 30% and yield of 10% could prove to be a very attractive entry point.

Bull

• Diversification provides quantifiable benefits to power output
• An 8% yield backed by a covered dividend growing in line with inflation
• Robust capital allocation policy enacted to address the discount

Bear

• Investor sentiment toward listed renewables is weak
• Capital allocation policy reduces ORIT’s ability to acquire new operational assets
• Gearing can amplify losses as well as gains

Primary Health Properties PLC

(“PHP” or the “Company”)

Notice of Interim Dividend

The Company announces that the fourth quarterly interim dividend in 2026 of 1.825 pence per ordinary share of a nominal value of 12.5 pence each (“Dividend”) will be paid as 0.725 pence by way of a Property Income Distribution (“PID”) and the remainder as an ordinary dividend of 1.100 pence (“Non-PID”) on Friday, 20 November 2026 (“Dividend Payment Date”) to shareholders on the register on 16 October 2026 (“Record Date”). 

It’s your duty to check the latest dividend announcements for shares in your Snowball.

Several dividends for re-investment, 2b added to cash of £798.77