Athelney Trust PLC
Legal Entity Identifier:
213800ON67TJC7F4DL05
The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 277.8p at 30 June 2021.
Fund Manager's comment for June 2021
Business confidence is surging to multi-year highs due to the strength of the economic rebound, booming global trade, an easing of coronavirus lockdowns and the Biden administration securing an infrastructure deal worth about $1tn to upgrade roads, bridges, and broadband networks over the next eight years in the USA. Globally supply chain bottlenecks are easing with the number of ships waiting to get into ports declining despite an increase in shipping volumes.
Recent PMI data for the United Kingdom reaffirmed that the U.K. is on track for vastly improved economic growth this year with the composite PMI above 60 for three consecutive months. When the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee met recently, it made no change to its monetary policy decision to keep interest rates on hold at 0.1%, despite prices rising faster than it had expected. Nevertheless, it did revise up its expectations for GDP growth in Q2 2021 by about 1.5% relative to what it expected in May.
Despite this good news, the government's decision to delay the fourth and final phase of its plan to ease pandemic rules in England by around one month had a mildly unsettling effect on the markets particularly in our property and healthcare related exposures. While the FTSE 100 was up by 0.2%, the FTSE 250 Index was down by 1.4% and the AIM All Share Index was down by 0.6%. The small caps performed well by comparison with the Fledging Index up by 0.8% and the Small Cap Index up by 1.1%. Elsewhere, Global markets ended the month in positive territory, with the MSCI increasing by 1.4% and the S&P 500 up by 2.2%. The major driver of performance in these markets was the large technology stocks in the US with the NASDAQ up by a massive 5.5%.
While dividend income during the month from our investments continues to improve and YTD is well ahead of last year's receipts, we were disappointed by the 0.5% decline in the value of our portfolio. Costs were contained during the month and hence the overall decline in the portfolio value flowed through to a similar decline of 0.5% in the NAV for the month. There were no changes to the portfolio holdings during the month and cash received by way of dividends resulted in a slight increase in the overall cash position which currently represents 2.1% of the portfolio value as at the end of June.
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
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