Morning briefing: JPMorgan US Smaller suffers first half reversal; plus RSE, SRE, HGT, RTW, AUGM, SEQI, INV & GSCT

• 15 September 2025

JPMorgan US Smaller Companies reports 12.4% first half fall; Riverstone Energy makes first disposal in its managed wind-down; Sirius Real Estate taps borrowers for more money; plus updates from HgCapital, Augmentum Fintech, RTW Bioscience and Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income.

JPMorgan US Smaller Companies (JUSC) is having a difficult year, reporting a 12.4% fall in the first half of 2025 that underperformed the 10.3% decline in its Russell 2000 index benchmark. The £227m trust managed by Don San Jose, Daniel Percella and Jonathan Brachle at JP Morgan Asset Management, blamed volatility around US tariff policy and stock selection in industrials and consumer staples. Freshpet, a pet food supplier, suffered a slowdown in sales and Aaon, an air conditioning and heating equipment manufacturer, experienced supply chain issues. JUSC shares stand around 9% below net asset value, wider than the 6.6% one-year average discount.

Riverstone Energy (RSE) has sold a C$90m stake in listed Canadian oil and gas explorer Whitecap Resources at a 1.9% discount. The block sale paves the way for a US$115m return of capital via a compulsory share redemption, its first distribution under the wind-down of the company approved by shareholders last month.

Sirius Real Estate (SRE), the owner of business parks in the UK and Germany, has borrowed another €105m for its acquisition pipeline with the issue of loan notes that it will consolidate with its existing €359.9m of 1.75% bonds due in November 2028. The new notes were priced in line with the current trading of these. This follows strong demand for the company’s €350m seven-year bond issued in January.

HgCapital (HGT) has made new commitments to invest €350m in the Hg Genesis 11 fund and €150m in Hg Mercury 5 with the first capital calls expected in 2027. Half-year results from the private equity investor confirm last month’s trading statement which showed a flat start to the year with net asset value (NAV) per share slipping 0.4% to 539.5p in the six months to 30 June 2025. Since then NAV per share has lifted 0.3% to 541.2p at 31 August. The interim dividend has been held at 2p per share.

Augmentum Fintech (AUGM) chief executive Tim Levene says last week’s $3.3bn flotation of Gemini, the US cryptocurrency exchange and custodian bank which accounts for 3.4% of the growth capital fund, was an “important milestone” for the company, whose shares trail on a 42% discount, and the fintech ecosystem. “We are pleased to see strong investor demand for the offering, which validates the progress Gemini has made in building a regulated and trusted platform for crypto trading and custody. The IPO provides further evidence of the increasing maturity of the digital assets sector.”

Rumours that Novartis might bid for Avidity Biosciences helped RTW Bioscience Opportunities (RTW) gain 7.8% in August ahead of the 3.9% rise in the Nasdaq Biotech index but slightly behind the 8% advance in the smaller company Russell 2000 Biotech benchmark. Net asset value per share stood at $1.98 at 31 August. Avidity shares rallied 27% to represent 8.4% of net assets. “Having undertaken some €300m of acquisitions this year, including the recently announced £101.1m acquisition of the Hartlebury Trading Estate which was transformational for our BizSpace platform in the UK, we continue to see attractive opportunities to scale our business in both Germany and the UK. This additional funding will help support that growth,” said chief financial officer Chris Bowman.

Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income (SEQI) says net asset value (NAV) per share of its £1.5bn debt portfolio rose 0.66p to 92.48p from 91.82p in August. It says it is well positioned to benefit from current high interest rates with 58.5% invested in fixed rate loans. Following the Bank of England’s 0.25% cut in base rate to 4% last month, just one more rate reduction is expected this year, reflecting persistent inflationary pressures and potential tax increases in the Budget in late November. The company bought back 1.6m of its 8.9%-yielding shares currently on a 16% discount. It made four new loans and received £50m from the full repayment of a senior loan to water infrastructure provider Workdry.

Investment Company (INV), the £6m UK smaller companies investment trust, says it is “actively working” with fund manager Chelverton Asset Management to grow the company as quickly as possible so that CAM no longer has to effectively subsidise the company by working within a 2% annual expenses cap. Net asset value fell by 0.85% to 79.62p per share in the year to 30 June with the share price declining 10.06% to 63.5p.

Global Smaller Companies Trust (GSCT) has agreed a £35m one-year unsecured multicurrency revolving loan facility with Royal Bank of Scotland International replacing a previous facility of the same size. 

Written By QD News