There was a telling piece of information in the latest trading update from UK property investor British Land (BLND). Faced with a situation where Facebook-owner Meta Platforms (META:NASDAQ) had decided break its lease on 1 Triton Square on British Land's Regent's Place 'campus' (at a cost to the social media giant of £149 million), the latter felt confident enough to reject Meta's offer of an occ

According to data from the AIC, the average investment trust discount to net asset value has widened from 12.2% at the end of 2022 to 14.5% as of 8 September 2023, while sector averages have generally widened. The exception is private equity, which narrowed from 25.1% to 4.5%, skewed by 3i's (III) dramatic swing from discount to premium.While this presents an opportunity to buy into parts of the m

Retail investors are being offered the chance to buy shares in a fundraising by a UK-listed mining outfit looking to produce metals for electric vehicles.ACG Acquisition Company (ACG) was launched in October 2022 as a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) otherwise known as a cash shell. These are listed vehicles which have no assets apart from cash and are set up with the intention to buy bu

We suggested at the start of 2023 that commercial property stocks could prove to be a good bet this year, with valuations offering significant upward reversion potential from their depressed levels and dividend yields at the top end of their historic range.While valuations have improved slightly, if anything sentiment is even more negative than it was in January, especially after April's stubbornl

- Operational update well received by investors- Portfolio built to withstand 'higher for longer' interest rates- Market needs to focus on earnings not valuationsShareholders gave a thumbs-up to the latest operational update from Land Securities (LAND), one of the UK's leading real estate companies with a £10.9 billion property portfolio.The shares gained 10p or 1.7% to 586p, stemming eight weeks

Retired civil servant Mark is a relatively late starter when it comes to managing his own investments, but he is making up for lost time - taking up the maximum ISA allowance of £20,000 apiece for himself and his wife each year.The 61-year-old already has a workplace pension to help fund the cost of living, but that didn't stop him wanting to start a personal investing journey after finishing wor

New UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reversed the majority of his predecessor's mini-budget on Monday, in an attempt to calm investors nerves in London, which was showing signs of working as the FTSE 100 and pound both moved higher.Hunt issued an emergency statement as he sought to restore stability following weeks of turmoil. He confirmed he is ditching many of the measures in the mini-budget, including

Traders and investors gave an initial thumbs up to the decision by new UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to reverse 'almost all' of the tax cuts announced in last month's mini-budget, with stocks, bonds and the pound all rising or holding earlier gains midday Monday.'UK financial markets reacted in a generally positive fashion to the government's dramatic policy U-turn this morning, with sterling initiall

Investment trusts paid record dividends of £5.5 billion in the 12 months to the end of March 2022, up 15.4% year-on-year according to research by Link Group.Dividends from investment trusts have proved much steadier through the pandemic than those from individual companies listed on stock markets thanks to their ability to invest almost anywhere in the world.The advantages of the investment trust

Investors are increasingly looking for stocks, bonds or funds that pay a good income.Dividends or bond coupons provide positive returns which are particularly attractive in a more challenging market such as now.Many people have this year lost money from backing high-growth but dividend-less stocks such as Tesla (TSLA:NASDQ) and Netflix (NFLX:NASDAQ), and they're fed up.In the other side of the rin

We all like to have some cash put aside for a rainy day, but if you have more than you reasonably need to meet most contingencies you really need to think about investing the surplus.With inflation running high you need to get more from your money than simply leaving it sitting in cash. Inflation will eat away at the spending power of this money, but you can fight back by putting the cash in the m

UK stocks erased earlier losses and tipped into positive territory on Friday afternoon despite US non-farm payrolls data showing the weakest gain since the recovery in jobs began in May with 0.66 million new jobs created last month compared with 1.5 million in August.The FTSE 100 closed 0.4% higher at 5,902.CORPORATE NEWSLogistics company Wincanton (WIN) rallied 5% to 223p as it stuck by its recen

UK stocks traded lower at midday on Friday following weaker European markets as risk aversion was the order of the day amid rising volatility after news that Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19, adding an extra element of political uncertainty in the US just a month before the presidential election.At 12:00, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.8%, at 5,835 points.Trump, 74, and first lad

UK stocks opened lower on Friday following news that US President Trump and the first lady had tested positive for coronavirus, sharpening the focus on the administration's handling of the pandemic.The dollar slid against global currencies, Nasdaq futures tumbled 2%, oil prices fell further below the $40 level and gold spiked to over $1,900 per ounce.At 8.30am the FTSE 100 index of leading stocks

Many investment trusts offer high yields which might tempt some investors in the current environment. But are they more trouble than they're worth?Some may be worth pursuing, while others can have complex investment models and come with underappreciated risks.HOW MUCH CAN YOU GET?Data from the Association of Investment Companies implies there are numerous investment trusts offering yields of 8% to

Like all parts of the market the investment trusts space has been shaken up by coronavirus. As share prices and valuations have begun to settle back into place, many trusts have been left at wider and narrower than usual premiums and discounts to net asset value (NAV).In this article Shares has used data from Winterflood Securities to identify trusts which have diverged significantly from their 12

The market turmoil around coronavirus has hit property funds, but what does that mean for investors?Over the past week a number of property funds have suspended, which means that investors can't buy or sell the funds. Below we look to answer your pressing questions on the situation.WHY HAVE FUNDS BEEN SUSPENDED?Funds that invest in shares listed on a stock exchange have constant updates to the val

The idea of investing in UK property might make you fearful given political instability created by the upcoming general election and ongoing Brexit saga. But there is genuine merit in having exposure to UK property as part of a diversified portfolio given its enduring income appeal.We believe this exposure should be selective. In this article we identify four of our prime property picks, each of w

It is little wonder that interest in 'alternative assets' has exploded.We live in a world of negative interest rates, where $17tn of bonds including government bonds trade at nominal yields below zero - meaning that if investors held them to maturity, they would lose money not make money - and more than double that amount trades on yields which track below the rate of inflation.Alternative assets

Regional REIT (RGL) 101.8pLoss to date: 5.4%Original entry price: Buy at 107.6p, 4 Jul 2019The negative sentiment towards UK assets means our positive call on commercial property investor Regional REIT (RGL) is struggling for momentum at present.First half results (10 Sep) contained few surprises with a drop in profit and rental income due to a year-on-year decline in the value of its portfolio an