Athelney Trust PLC
Legal Entity Identifier:
213800ON67TJC7F4DL05
The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 253.2p at 28 February 2021.
Fund Manager's comment for February 2021
In spite of the fact that the US FOMC left monetary policy unchanged at its January meeting with the federal funds rate maintained at near zero, there was a 37bp selloff in 10-year US Treasuries towards the end of this month which caught traders both locally and abroad by surprise with its speed and magnitude. This selloff in the US bond market prompted by renewed inflationary fears flowed through to the UK and elsewhere, affecting the high PE and growth sectors of the equities market, especially the tech sector, while cyclicals remained in favour. The result was that while the S&P 500 was up by 2.6%, the tech heavy NASDAQ was only up 0.9%, while the MSCI increased by 3.7% during the month, driven up by other markets including France where the CAC was up by 5.9% and Germany where the DAX up by 2.6%
Data released this month showed that the UK consumer continued to face significant headwinds amid elevated COVID cases and government restrictions. Retail sales declined by 8.2% in January and the contraction was even higher at 8.8% when gasoline sales were excluded. In spite of this poor economic data, the FTSE 250 Index was up by 3.37% over the month with the FTSE100 up by only 1.19%. The small cap stocks again performed better than large cap stocks with the Small Cap Index increasing by 3.96% and the Fledgling Index up by 3.17% while the AIM All Share Index increased by 1.95% during the month.
Our portfolio underperformed the various market indices during the month, declining by 0.95% as the moves in bond yields affected the market valuation of the growth stocks in the portfolio. However, we still see this as rotational with the future portfolio value driven by a growth in earnings should business expansions continue as expected. After allowing for expenses, the NAV declined by 1.17% over the month.
During the month we top sliced our position in Games Workshop and sold our holding in Churchill China and Belvoir while adding to our position in LXI Reit and Target Healthcare to take advantage of their dividend yields and business outlook. As a result, our cash increased and comprises 7.8% of the portfolio at month end.
Fact Sheet
An accompanying fact sheet which includes the information above as well as wider details on the portfolio can be found on the Fund's website www.athelneytrust.co.uk under "Portfolio Details".
Background Information
Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl AM
Manny is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of E C Pohl & Co ("ECP"), an investment management company and has been a major shareholder in Athelney trust for many years.
E C Pohl & co is licensed by the Australian Financial services (licence no.421704).
Manny Pohl and the ECP group has over AU$1500m under its management including four listed investment companies, three listed in Australia and one in the UK:
· Flagship Investments (ASX code:FSI)
AUD50m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au
· Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST)
AUD25m www.barrackst.com
· Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL)
AUD25m www.globalmastersfund.com.au
· Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY)
GBP5m www.athelneytrust.co.uk
Athelney Trust plc Investment Policy
The investment objective of the Trust is to provide shareholders with prospects of long-term capital growth with the risks inherent in small cap investment minimised through a spread of holdings in quality small cap companies that operate in various industries and sectors. The Fund Manager also considers that it is important to maintain a progressive dividend record.
The assets of the Trust are allocated predominantly to companies with either a full listing on the London Stock Exchange or a trading facility on AIM or ISDX. The assets of the Trust have been allocated in two main ways: first, to the shares of those companies which have grown steadily over the years in terms of profits and dividends but, despite this progress, the market rating is favourable when compared to future earnings and dividends; second, to those companies whose shares are standing at a favourable level compared with the value of land, buildings or cash in the balance sheet.
Athelney Trust was founded in 1994. In 1996 it was one of the ten pioneer members of the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). In 2008 the shares became fully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Athelney Trust has a successful progressive dividend growth record and the dividend has grown every year since 2004. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) Athelney Trust is one of only "22 investment companies that have increased their dividend every year between 10 and 20 years - the next generation of dividend heroes" (as at 20/03/2018). See link
www.theaic.co.uk/aic/news/press-releases/next-generation-of-dividend-heroes
Website
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
