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IEM's two decades of experience of investing in sustainability position it at the forefront of the burgeoning ESG investing industry. The investment company has delivered strong long-term returns, and despite a difficult year which has seen a softening of valuations among the growth-oriented companies in which it invests, its exposure to the secular trends supporting global Net Zero obligations should see its investee companies deliver significant earnings growth over the coming years.

In this interview, co-manager Fotis Chatzimichalakis speaks with John Hughman about how the trust is positioned to take advantage of the sizeable opportunities in sustainable investing; how it defines its investment universe and its approach to stock selection; and how digital technologies are driving efficiency improvements and carbon reduction across numerous industries. The company is held in a number of our portfolios.

FGT is one of the UK’s largest investment trusts, with a long-track record of delivering market beating returns from a concentrated portfolio of predominately UK equities. Its manager Nick Train is well known for his conviction approach – buying high-quality, income generating companies and holding them for the long-term.

In this interview, Mr Train explains the thinking behind the company’s investment approach, how it has stood up to the challenges of a difficult year and why he remains confident in the long-term growth prospects of his investee companies. In particular, he points to the significant opportunities still to be unlocked as more companies turn to digital technologies and emerging markets to power their next phase of growth and keep dividends flowing.

In this podcast John Hughman speaks to Tim Levene, manager of fintech investor Augmentum Fintech (AUGM), which features in our Summer and Thematic portfolios. The company is the only pure play fintech investor listed in London. Rising interest rates have had a significant impact on its share price performance this year, which has swung from a premium to a significant discount to Net Asset Value, but the secular tailwinds behind the growth of fintech remain intact - and the company’s strong balance sheet leaves it well positioned to capitalise on lower valuations across its investment universe.

Tim explains why AUGM’s current deep discount to NAV isn’t reflective of its conservative valuation policies or the rapid growth its investee companies are delivering; how the traditional financial services industry has been slow to exploit new technologies, leaving the door open to young companies to disrupt various sub-sectors of the financial services industry; and how the company filters through thousands of fintech investment opportunities to identify those companies with the highest growth potential.