We take a look at the first presentations of our ISA season event.

Kepler Trust Intelligence

Disclaimer

This is not substantive investment research or a research recommendation, as it does not constitute substantive research or analysis. This material should be considered as general market commentary.

Day 1 – Greencoat UK Wind | Alan Ray

The Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) team discuss the trust’s recent results, and, more broadly, the importance of onshore and offshore wind to the overall energy mix for the UK. They spend some time considering some of the opportunities to upgrade and re-power the current portfolio and look at the landscape for further development of the sector, noting the success of the UK government’s most recent auction for new projects. They also touch upon their capital allocation policy, designed as a response to the wide discount, and the need for consolidation in their peer group.

Click here to watch the UKW recording

Day 2 – Bankers | Josef Licsauer

In the session, Richard Clode discusses how the Bankers Investment Trust (BNKR) seeks to balance global equity exposure, avoiding strong growth or value tilts and instead focussing on bottom-up stock selection. Whilst geopolitical developments remain an important backdrop, diversification across regions and sectors is central to managing risk and identifying companies capable of delivering sustainable growth. Artificial intelligence is a key theme, with Richard highlighting how the technology is evolving through several stages, producing new market leaders and disrupting incumbents, though emphasising that attractive investments can still be found in companies with strong fundamentals and reasonable valuations.

Click here to watch the BNKR recording

Day 3 – JPMorgan European Growth & Income | Alan Ray

JPMorgan European Growth & Income’s (JEGI) manager Timothy Lewis discusses the team’s investment process, and how they harness the resources available to them at JPMorgan. He also looks at some of the companies and sectors that have driven JEGI’s very strong performance, at some of the ‘off benchmark’ small companies in the portfolio and considers some of the bigger picture factors, such as valuations, fiscal stimulus and energy prices, that are shaping investors’ approach to investing in Europe.

Click here to watch the JEGI recording

Day 4 – City of London | Josef Licsauer

In this webinar, manager Job Curtis discussed how City of London Investment Trust (CTY) combines a long-term record of dividend growth with strong total returns, underpinned by a valuation-driven, income-focussed investment approach. He highlighted the trust’s diversified exposure across sectors and geographies, emphasising cash-generative companies with strong balance sheets that support dividends and capital expenditure. Job also considered the impact of macroeconomic factors, including UK interest rates, Middle East tensions affecting oil and energy, and global growth dynamics. Overall, Job reinforced CTY’s focus on downside protection, selective stock opportunities and consistent income delivery in a challenging market environment.

Click here to watch the CTY recording

Day 5 – Rights & Issues | Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff

As a new presenter to our audience, Rights & Issues’ (RIII) manager Matt Cable began the presentation with some background on the trust. This included a brief history lesson of the 63-year-old vehicle, which focusses on UK smaller companies, and the journey to being under the leadership of Matt and the Jupiter firm. He went on to describe his process, which contains four elements including a top-down overlay to help mitigate risks, although stock selection is predominantly bottom-up. Matt discussed the ongoing impact of M&A which has continued to be a factor in the UK smaller companies market, and has been a notable supporting factor to performance in the past year. However, the market’s disregard for quality has been a headwind, with Matt discussing a number of examples both in the presentation and again in the Q&A session.

Click here to watch the RIII recording