Evidence suggests DIY pension investors are looking to strike a balance between stability and a few select growth opportunities. We look at the most popular SIPP investments right now.

(Image credit: Luke Chan via Getty Images)

By Laura Miller

Cash. Cash. Cash. The funds that made up the top three among Fidelity SIPP investors in April were all cash funds. The kind of funds investors pile into when they are worried about which way the wind is blowing.

And with April seeing sky high tariffs and trade wars emanating from the United States rocking stock markets around the world, the fear of a hurricane brewing has been intense.

Ed Monk, associate director at Fidelity International, says: “SIPP investors continue to prioritise stability with funds like the Royal London Short Term Money Market Fund and Legal & General Cash Trust holding prominent positions.

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“These cash and money market funds are sought after in times of uncertainty due to their ability to preserve capital and offer liquidity.”

This aligns with recent research from Fidelity which shows a marked shift towards caution, with 41% of investors now describing their outlook on the market as ‘pessimistic’, up from 24% in February.

At the same time, heading up the investment trust chart during the period was GCP Infrastructure Investments and International Public Partnerships, taking first and second place respectively – both infrastructure investments, as even SIPP investors not choosing cash funds retreated to cash-like safety.

“The popularity of cash funds and infrastructure trusts shows a clear preference for defensive strategies in uncertain markets,” says Monk.

Likewise that old favourite in troubled times, gold. Gold’s performance in 2025 underscores its value as a safe haven, with the Ninety-One Global Gold Fund climbing into the top holdings among SIPP investors in April.

Fidelity’s research also supports this, revealing 28% of investors now see gold as a key opportunity. “The growing interest in gold reflects the broader trend of investors looking for assets that can provide both safety and long-term value,” Monk says.

Yet SIPP investors are striking a balance between stability and selective growth opportunities. While not as popular as cash and infrastructure, global equity and index funds held their own in the top 10, showing investors’ ongoing appetite for diversification.

“We’re seeing selective interest in growth sectors, with funds like the Fidelity Index World Fund and Allianz Technology Trust attracting attention, showing that there’s still room for optimism in certain areas of the market,” says Monk.

Finally, the return of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust to the top ranks suggests that some investors are cautiously dipping back into the growth space.

But, says Monk, that is occurring with a keen eye on balancing these exposures with more defensive holdings elsewhere.

Most popular SIPP investments

Fund	Shares	Investment trusts
Royal London Short Term Money Market Fund	BP	GCP INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS LTD
Legal & General Cash Trust	HSBC HOLDINGS PLC	INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP
Fidelity Cash Fund	LEGAL & GENERAL GP	ALLIANZ TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
Fidelity Multi Asset Alloc Growth W-Acc	GLENCORE PLC	JPMORGAN GLOBAL GROWTH & INCOME PLC
Fidelity Index World Fund	DIAGEO PLC	SDCL ENERGY EFFICIENCY INC TST PLC
BNY Mellon Multi-Asset Balanced Fund	M&G PLC	F&C INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Fid FIF Global Dividend Fund	ASHMORE GROUP	CQS NEW CITY HIGH YIELD FUND LTD
Legal & General Global Equity Index Fund	ABERDEEN GROUP PLC	SCOTTISH MORTGAGE INV TRUST
Ninety One Global Gold Fund	GREATLAND GOLD	POLAR CAPITAL TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
Fidelity Global Aggregate Bond Feeder Fund	BURBERRY GROUP	LAW DEBENTURE CORP

Source: Fidelity International Personal Investing Platform Net SIPP sales 01.04.25-29.04.25

Inflation? Slowdown? This 10% Dividend Wins Either Way

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: May 13, 2025

Are we careening towards a recession, or is a pickup in inflation the big threat to the stock market?

The negative first quarter GDP print has recession fears in the financial headlines. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jay Powell remains fixated on inflation.

Ironically, both may come to pass. Which means we must prepare our portfolios for a slowdown that is quickly followed by a pickup in prices.

Let’s put one smart lender on our “Goldilocks” watch list. This ticker yields 10% today (with some nice “dividend insurance” we’ll talk about in a moment). But the key point is that it profits as inflation—and interest rates—tick higher.

Let’s talk about the “slowdown-inflation two-step” I see coming—and how it’s set to open the door on this 10% dividend opportunity.

Slowdown Now …

Let’s start with the slowdown, which, as we discussed last week, is already upon us. The evidence: A 0.3% decline in first-quarter GDP:

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

But the underlying numbers were actually more bullish than the headlines suggested.

That’s because the pullback was in large part due to a spike in imports as retailers stocked up ahead of Trump’s tariffs—and imports are calculated as a drag on GDP. That trend is likely to fade. Government spending also fell in light of DOGE cuts (though as we’ll discuss next, this will likely be fleeting), while consumer spending largely held up.

We’ll happily take a GDP dip caused by temporary factors! But a slowdown is still likely. There were hints of this in the April employment report, which, while better than expected, still showed a slight slowdown from March.

… Inflation Next

Meantime, despite DOGE’s efforts, government spending rose 7.4% year-over-year for the first six months of this fiscal year (which began October 1, 2024).

Tax receipts, by the way, are not up 7.4%. And remember that most of federal spending is untouchable: Messing with Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid is political suicide. Defense spending seems “secure” given the current state of the world.

That makes it far more likely that a future Fed Chair (remember that Jay Powell’s term is up in a year) will resort to money printing quantitative easing (and with it, sustained, or rising, inflation and rates in the longer term).

Enter Our 10%-Paying “Floating-Rate” Lender

Enter commercial mortgage real estate investment trusts (mREITs), which stand to see higher income from their floating-rate loans as inflation—and interest rates—hold at current levels or tick up.

When most people think of REITs, they think of those that own physical properties, like shopping malls, hotels and apartments. Instead, mREITs buy and originate mortgages on these properties. (But like their property-owning cousins, they get a hall pass on their corporate taxes so long as they pay out 90% of their income as dividends.)

mREITs’ lending operations make money by borrowing at low short-term rates, then lending that cash out in the form of mortgages based on long-term rates. They then pocket the difference.

This business model prints money when long rates (i.e., those on the 10-year Treasury) are steady or, better yet, declining, as we’ll likely see in the coming slowdown. That’s because, when long-term rates drop, mREITs’ existing loans become more valuable because new loans pay less. That’s the setup we’re likely to see in the coming months.

But what about when rates rise? That can hurt mREITs because their existing mortgage portfolios fall in value. But remember that they do see rising income from those floating-rate loans.

Moreover, the best mREITs are run by experienced managers and have their hands in businesses beyond commercial lending, helping them navigate any rate environment.

Starwood: Much More Than a Mortgage Lender

Which sets up the 10%-yielding stock we’re going to talk about today: Starwood Property Trust (STWD). It really is the poster child for mREITs. For starters, its loan book is 98% floating-rate. And as we’ll see below, it’s diversified into other businesses that help hedge it against inflation.

Starwood is managed by Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital, which he founded with $20 million in 1991. Today, Starwood Capital manages over $120 billion in assets.

These folks know the credit and real estate markets, and they’ve built STWD to thrive in all rate setups: Beyond commercial lending, which is about 55% of assets, STWD holds residential loans (11%) and devotes about 13% of its assets to owned properties.

It also makes loans in the growing infrastructure space (a keen focus of the company) and originates, acquires and manages mortgage-backed securities. In addition, it runs LNR Partners LLC, which focuses on resolving distressed mortgages. Since its launch in 1993, LNR has resolved some $94.5 billion worth of such loans.

On the commercial loan side, the company’s loan book is as diverse as they come, with mortgages spread across office, housing, hotel, industrial, infrastructure, mixed-use properties, international properties and more.

Source: Starwood Property Trust Q1 investor presentation

All of this has helped this “ironclad” mREIT blow past competitors Blackstone Realty Trust (BXMT) and Granite Point Mortgage Trust (GPMT) in the past five years—through COVID, plunging rates, rising rates and the trade war—and with far less drama, too:

Starwood Soldiers Through the Wild 2020s 

That share-price gain is deserved. Just look at how STWD’s book value grew from the start of the rising-rate period, in January 2022, to the end of 2024—when 10-year Treasury rates shot up from 1.5% to 4.6%. At the same time, the book values of BXMT and GPMT plummeted:

Starwood Shakes Off Rising Rates, Grows Its Assets

And this year? Despite concerns about inflation/recession, Starwood has posted a total return of roughly 3% and has only barely slipped into the red this year, while the S&P 500’s total return remains underwater, with volatility that’s gone through the roof:

 “Tariff Tantrum” Fails to Dent Starwood

On the dividend front, Starwood raised the payout after its 2009 IPO and has held it steady, at $0.48 quarterly, for the past decade. And that payout looks safe: Management says it has $1.5 billion (or $4.53 a share) in unrealized distributable earnings from property gains to put toward the payout.

That’s nearly 2.5 years of payouts, based on the current annualized rate.

Slowdown Could Give Us a Better Deal on Starwood

So why are we putting Starwood on our watch list and not our buy list, now? It goes back to book value: Right now, Starwood trades “at book,” which isn’t bad—but I expect a slowdown to pull the stock below book by a bit. That’s what happened in March 2023, when the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and friends sent recession fears soaring.

Back then, STWD traded at 82% of book. And with another slowdown likely, I expect another chance to buy for less than book value in the coming months (though likely not quite at that 18%-off deal we saw in 2023!).

 BARCLAYS

CUTS BLUEFIELD SOLAR INCOME FUND TO ‘EQUAL WEIGHT’ – PRICE TARGET 106 PENCE

CUTS NEXTENERGY SOLAR FUND TARGET TO 82 (87) PENCE – ‘EQUAL WEIGHT’

Doric Nimrod buy aircrafts and lease them out. During the covid crash people stopped flying and the share price fell out of bed.

At the covid low of 32p the yield was 25%.

You would have achieved the Holy Grail of investing in having a share that has returned all your capital and still produces an income.

There was also a capital gain of 100%.

slot deposit via dana pdrc.or.idx Lindert62162@gmail.com 194.107.125.194

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Word Press and you don’t need any coding knowledge.

Not Naval Gazing, that’s a completely different subject.

Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust PLC (LSE:ORIT) Full Year 2024 Earnings Call Highlights:

GuruFocus News

31 March 2025 

In this article:

Positive Points

• Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust PLC (LSE:ORIT) delivered a positive NAV total return of around 2.5% for the calendar year 2024.
• The company paid an on-target fully covered dividend of 6.02p per share, marking the third consecutive year of dividend increase in line with inflation.
• A successful share buyback program was implemented, initially set at 10 million pounds and later increased to 30 million pounds, contributing to NAV per share accretion.
• The acquisition of the Ballymacarni solar complex and the Harliton project expanded their portfolio, adding significant megawatt capacity.
• The company achieved a 7% increase in generation from its portfolio, with new projects receiving higher electricity prices and reduced operating costs, leading to increased EBITDA margins.

Negative Points

• Despite a positive NAV return, the net asset value declined due to capital returned to shareholders and running costs.
• The company faces challenges in reducing leverage, with a goal to bring it below 40% of gross asset value.
• There is uncertainty in the market due to policy and government rhetoric that sometimes suggests a move away from renewables.
• The company is reliant on capital recycling, with significant asset sales required to maintain financial health.
• The UK market is undergoing changes in grid access reform, which could impact project timelines and costs. Warning ! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with LSE:ORIT.

Q & A Highlights

Q: Can you provide an overview of Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust’s performance in 2024? 

A: During 2024, we delivered a positive NAV total return of around 2.5%, primarily driven by dividends in line with our target. Despite a decline in net asset value due to capital returns to shareholders and running costs, we paid a fully covered dividend of 6.02p per share, marking a 4% increase from the previous year. We also announced a further inflation-linked increase in the dividend target for 2025. (Unidentified_2)

Q: What strategic acquisitions and sales did the company complete in 2024? 

A: We completed the purchase of the Ballymacarni solar complex and the Harliton project, totaling 241 megawatts. Additionally, we sold the Lung Bon wind farm for EUR 70.4 million, achieving an 11.3% return. Our asset sales have realized GBP 161 million, a 12% uplift to holding value, surpassing our listed peers in the renewable space.

Q: How has the company’s generation capacity and revenue evolved over the past year? 

A: Our generation capacity increased by 7% year-on-year due to new projects and acquisitions, despite some asset sales. Revenue and EBITDA grew even more, thanks to higher electricity prices from new projects and reduced operating costs, leading to an increased EBITDA margin.

Q: What are the company’s goals for 2025? 

A: We have set three clear goals for 2025: extending our share buyback program by an additional GBP 20 million, reducing leverage to below 40% of gross asset value, and selling up to GBP 80 million of assets.

Q: What is the company’s approach to recent acquisitions and developer partnerships? 

A: Our recent acquisitions focus on the developer side, aiming for higher returns with limited capital deployment. We are supporting Nordic Renewables in Finland and BLC in the UK, providing additional capital to advance their projects, particularly in solar and battery storage.

Timing then Time In.

‘The next Warren Buffett doesn’t exist’

Finally, the markets are far more researched than they ever were in the past. Buffett is famous for voraciously reading reports and accounts to find the next business to back. From the start of his career, he scoured financial statements to unearth assets that had yet to be exploited. That is possible if you are very good at scanning balance sheets and if no one else is taking the trouble. But there is far more information around now than there was when Buffett was starting his career. The hedge funds and private-equity houses are all looking at the same information and trying to spot the same opportunities. Artificial intelligence will streamline that process even more.

It is hard to imagine that a couple of guys in Omaha, no matter how smart they were, could spot something that the rest of the world had somehow missed. Buffett’s reputation is completely deserved. But it seems unlikely there will ever be another investor who does quite as well as he did. The investment world has changed too much for anyone to turn themselves into one of the five richest men in the world simply by investing well. The next Buffett doesn’t exist – and there is no point in looking for him.

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This article was first published in MoneyWeek’s magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.

Thursday 15 May

Always double check the information above is correct before you hit the push button.

chucko112 May ’25

Looks like 15.5p as the “dividend”.

VPC Specialty Lending Investments PLC

Second Return of Capital through the B Share Scheme

The Board of VPC Specialty Lending Investments plc (the “Company“) is pleased to announce a second return of capital via the B Share Scheme.  

The Company’s managed wind-down investment policy was approved by shareholders in June 2023. Since the initial B-Share distribution in April 2024, the Company has made progress in realising value both through debt repayments and the sale of equity securities. On 9 May 2025, the Company received full repayment of the Senior Secured Note of $50.3 million from the refinance of the Deinde Group, LLC (d/b/a, Integra Credit) (“Integra“) senior secured term loan. After the refinance, the Company still holds a residual term note of $18.7 million in Integra which consists of the existing non-interest-bearing term note and uncollected accrued interest at the time of the transaction.

After considering the Company’s projected working capital requirements, the Board has decided to make a second distribution to shareholders of £43 million through the issue and redemption of B Shares. The capital to be returned represents approximately 29.3 percent of the Company’s Net Asset Value as at 31 December 2024.

Pursuant to the authority received from shareholders at a general meeting of the Company held on 5 April 2024 B Shares of 1 penny each will be paid up out of the reserves of the Company and issued to all Shareholders by way of a bonus issue pro-rata to their holding of Ordinary Shares held at the Record Date of 6 p.m. on 21 May 2025. The B Shares will be issued on 22 May 2025 and redeemed at 1 penny per B Share. The Redemption Date in respect of this initial return of capital is 29 May 2025. The proceeds from the redemption of the B Shares will be sent to uncertificated Shareholders through CREST or via cheque to certificated Shareholders on or around 12 June 2025.

Shareholders are reminded that the issue of B Shares will not reduce the number of the Company’s ordinary shares in issue. However, following the issue and redemption of B Shares, the NAV (and NAV per ordinary share) will be reduced by the total amount of capital returned and the share price is likely to reflect the reduction in NAV. The pence per ordinary share amount of any dividends is therefore expected to reduce as a consequence of the reduction in NAV and, over time, through the changing composition of the portfolio.

The Company will continue to realise value from its debt and equity positions and will allocate the proceeds as between required dividend distributions and further returns of capital through the B-Share scheme and/or alternative forms of return after considering the working capital needs of the Company. The Board is not able to specify the timing and amount of future returns, which will continue to depend on the repayment of the Company’s debt assets as well as the sale of other securities. One of the advantages of the B Share Scheme is that returns of capital can be made to shareholders on a more cost-effective basis than, for example, through a tender offer and this would allow for smaller and potentially more frequent returns to be made.

Terms used and not defined in this announcement have the meanings given to them in the circular to the Company’s shareholders dated 15 March 2024.