JohnBaronPortfolios.co.uk

As well as interviewing investment trust managers, this page will also include interviews with other commentators in order to add perspective. The objective will be to convey a broad range of views which naturally may not reflect the portfolios' positions but will enrich our, and we hope members', investment process.

Neil Wilson is chief market analyst for institutional broker Finalto and its retail trading arm Markets.com. He covers a wide range of investment and trading subjects, from companies and commodities to FX, bonds and macro-economics. He also writes for the Investors Chronicle as 'The Trader', with the daily market outlook published online each morning, and is a regular contributor to major news outlets - being quoted on the BBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Times, Telegraph, Guardian, London Evening Standard and more. Neil also contributes to various TV networks including Sky News, ITV, the BBC and CNBC.

MCT is one of a handful of investment companies listed in London offering direct exposure to Canadian equities. Since launch in July 2006, it has delivered consistent annualised NAV total returns of over 7% a year, of which more than two thirds comes from dividends. Although the trust has a mandate that allows it to invest up to 40% of its portfolio in US equities, it is currently 100% invested in Canadian-listed securities.

In this interview we talk to Dean Orrico about why Canada is a particularly good hunting ground for income seekers; how the strength of its banking sector and

With a market capitalisation of almost £2bn, the WWH is the largest of several healthcare-focused investment companies listed in London. The company targets capital growth by investing across the healthcare spectrum, with just under a third of its portfolio in pharmaceutical companies, a fifth in biotechnology, a fifth in healthcare service providers and another fifth in healthcare equipment companies – as portfolio manager Trevor Polishuk puts it, the company is a ‘one-stop shop’ for those wishing to gain exposure to the secular growth trends behind the industry.

In this interview, John Hughman speaks to Trevor about the rationale behind WWH’s allocation across the healthcare continuum, and why AstraZeneca is its largest holding; how the pandemic highlighted the innovation strengths of the industry; the long-term trends driving the sector’s growth, and the increasing role of technology in unlocking the sector’s innovative capabilities; and why healthcare offers the best of both worlds for defensively-minded and growth-hungry investors. The company is held in some of the portfolios.

BSIF is the UK's oldest renewable energy investment company, celebrating 10 years of trading this year. Over that period, the company has delivered steady capital growth and dividends from an expanding portfolio of long-life solar assets in the UK, now made up of more than 750MW of operational solar generation. Total returns since inception stand at over 100%, and the company offers a handsome dividend yield while benefitting from two-thirds of its total assets being linked to RPI for 15 years.

The company has recently altered its remit to include other forms of renewable generation including wind power and battery storage. The latter is particularly complementary to the portfolio, bringing the ability to store energy and smooth out the intermittent generating profile of renewable assets to allow them to offer baseload-style generation. The company currently has 365MW of battery storage projects under development, along with 950MW of solar at various stages of the planning, development and build process - more than enough to ensure a steady flow of future dividends. BSIF is a long-standing constituent of many of our portfolios.

In this interview we talk to James Armstrong of Bluefield Partners, which manages BSIF, about how the trust's unique vertically integrated model allows it to deliver market-leading returns; the company's development plans, and the importance of battery storage within them; how it's navigated the recent volatility in energy and capital markets; and what needs to happen on the policy front to support the UK's Net Zero and energy security ambitions.

VNH is one of three London-listed investment companies targeting the high-growth potential of frontier market Vietnam. Launched in 2006, VNH invests in high-growth companies in Vietnam, focusing on domestic consumption, industrialisation and urbanisation. Latest results show its concentrated approach helped it beat its benchmark in a difficult year for the country’s main index, which remains one of the world’s cheapest markets despite its significant growth prospects. The company is not held in the portfolios but these occasional interviews with other respected managers seek to aid investment perspective.

In this interview Craig Martin, chairman of Dynam Capital which took over the management of VNH in 2018, talks to us about how China’s extended shutdown has accelerated the expansion of Vietnam’s high-tech manufacturing industries; the rising intellectual capacity of Vietnam, supported by the county’s investment in STEM education; the opportunities presented by growing levels of urbanisation and wealth, and the growth of the Vietnamese consumer; and the hurdles faced in driving the country’s industrial development in the face of Net Zero challenges.

EDIN is a leading FTSE 250 Investment Trust which sits within the AIC UK Equity Income sector. The company is managed by James de Uphaugh and Chris Field with a focus on fundamental business research to create a diversified and high conviction portfolio of 40-50 investments. The managers are supported by an experienced team of investment analysts. The company does not have any in-built investment style biases and seeks to deliver long-term added value regardless of economic and market conditions. The company’s large positions include Shell, Unilever and BAE systems, while its biggest sector exposure is retail.

In this interview John Hughman speaks to James about the strategies the team has employed since taking over its management at the time Covid struck in April 2020; why there’s value to be found in industries like oil & gas and retail (the latter being “written off as yesteryear”); why a focus on “gloomy” short term economic news may be overdone; the importance of macroeconomic factors including ESG in determining sector exposures; and how an accelerated “corporate Darwinisim” is favouring the larger businesses in which the company invests.

Managed by Ben Goldsmith, Luciano Suana and Graham Thomas and sitting withing the AIC’s Environmental sector, MHN is an investment trust focused on companies – both public and private – that “are demonstrably delivering or benefiting significantly, from the efficient use of energy and resources.” Key positions within the highly concentrated 16-holding portfolio include Alphabet (23.6%) and Microsoft (11.2%), along with several transportation and infrastructure companies. Since launch in 2015, the company has delivered a NAV return of 40.8%.

In this interview, Ben and Luciano discuss the holdings within the portfolio, and why they believe the efficient use of resources, in particular energy, is the most important factor in environmental investing. They also explain why they target heavy energy users rather than energy providers and those providing energy reduction technologies; how their agnostic approach to public and private deals boosts returns; and why they believe the high-quality positions within their portfolio, with significant barriers to entry, mean the current wide discount to NAV is unjustified.

PIN is a leading FTSE 250 private equity investment trust which invests in a diversified mix of direct private company investments and ‘invitation only’ funds across three primary sectors – digital, healthcare, and consumer non-discretionary. It's been around since 1987 and has a simple aim of making private equity - and associated returns - publicly available while maximising capital growth over the long term.

In this interview, we talk to Helen Steers, lead portfolio manager and investment partner at parent group Pantheon - a global private equity manager with $90bn under management. We discuss the company’s unique approach and the advantages it offers private investors; the secular growth on offer in its target sectors; how ESG principles are core to the company’s ability to create value; and why myths surrounding private equity has left the sector trading at unjustified discounts to what currently has proved to be robust net asset values.

API aims to provide an attractive level of income, alongside capital and income growth, by investing in a diversified portfolio of commercial property assets - currently more than half of the portfolio is held in industrial assets, partly reflecting the growth of logistics warehousing in the UK in recent years. The company has been managed by Jason Baggaley since 2006, and recent figures show it has delivered a benchmark-beating total return of 56% over the last 5 years.

In this interview, John Hughman talks to Jason about the challenges faced by the property industry in the wake of the pandemic and as a result of rising rates; how he’s been adjusting his portfolio in response; where there may be buying opportunities; the importance of considering demographic, environmental, and technological trends when investing in property; and why there may be a fair amount of concern already baked into prices.

TMPL is a £750m investment company established in 1926 that takes a value investing approach combined with deep fundamental research focused on establishing the ‘intrinsic value’ of potential investments. The trust has a fifth of its assets in the energy sector via holdings in BP, Shell and TotalEnergies, which reflects its approach to creating long-term growth by buying companies that have been overly discounted by the market.

In this interview, portfolio manager Ian Lance talks to John Hughman about how rising inflation and interest rates have improved the outlook for value investing vs growth; how to identify value; why management changes can often be a good indicator that an unloved company could be ready to stage a recovery; and why taking advantage of the historically long-term outperformance of value investing requires a ‘conviction contrarian’ approach. The company is not held in our portfolios but we include interviews with other respected managers in order to aid perspective.