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CVCG is an investment company specialising in Europeancorporate debt, with a core focus on senior secured loans and sub-investment grade credit. Its primary objective is to generate a reliable income stream, but it also seeks capital growth by identifying undervalued credit opportunities - bonds and loans trading below par. The trust benefits from a dedicated team of analysts based in London and New York, allowing it to carry out deep credit work and selectively deploy capital where risk-adjusted returns are most attractive. By investing in floating rate debt, which benefits directly from rising base rates, CVCG has been well-positioned for the recent interest rate cycle, and its senior secured position offers a strong buffer in the event of defaults.

In this podcast, portfolio manager Pieter Staelens outlines how CVCG has responded to the sharp rise in interest rates, why its focus on mature, cash-generative businesses - particularly in sectors like healthcare and business services - has helped avoid distress, and how geopolitical uncertainty is shaping credit opportunities. He explains how the trust adapts its 50/50 portfolio split between performing credit and opportunistic investments depending on market conditions, and why it continues to avoid volatile or opaque sectors like real estate, automotive, and emerging markets. With yields still in the high single to low double digits and a proven ability to generate top-up dividends, Staelens argues the trust remains well-placed to thrive even as rate cuts begin and economic visibility remains limited.

Welcome to The Two Johns, the investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron joins former Investors' Chronicle editor John Hughman to discuss the big themes dominating the investment landscape and the important issues affecting the sector, while explaining how these are influencing the way the website's ten live investment trust portfolios are being managed.

In this episode, John Baron and John Hughman delve into the misunderstood world of private debt and why its balance of risk and reward offers an attractive alternative to public debt markets. They also examine the importance of keeping an eye on fees, and why investment trusts are an increasingly competitive choice against other collective vehicles. And they discuss how Trump’s tariff wars are yet another reason to think inflation is likely to remain higher for longer.

MRC has a long-standing reputation in the UK investment trust sector, having been established in 1884. Its core focus since 1994 has been on generating long-term capital growth and rising dividends from a 70-strong portfolio of UK-listed mid and small-cap companies. The company adopts a quality growth strategy, targeting high-return, competitively advantaged companies trading at attractive valuations. Despite macroeconomic headwinds, such as interest rate volatility and political uncertainty, MRC has delivered robust NAV returns, recently achieving a 14% gain in the financial year ending January 2025.

In this podcast, manager Guy Anderson outlines how MRC has navigated tough market conditions through bottom-up stock selection focused on companies generating sold cash flows; why the trust is slightly overweight in UK domestic cyclicals, including housebuilders and retailers, which Anderson believes are undervalued due to a disconnect between public sentiment and economic reality, and why increased conviction in market opportunities means the company’s gearing remains at the higher end of its usual range, while continuing to help it consistently grow its dividend above inflation.

NAIT, now managed by Janus Henderson since August 2024, is designed to offer investors a disciplined portfolio that blends income and growth within the North American market. Led by Fran Radano, the trust differentiates itself by seeking high-quality, dividend-paying companies, rather than simply following high-growth trends like the Magnificent Seven. With a focus on sustainable earnings, capital discipline, and valuation awareness, the trust maintains a portfolio trading at a lower multiple than the S&P 500, with underlying dividend yields of 2–3.25% and annual dividend growth of around 7%. Following the move to Janus Henderson, the trust has rebalanced towards stronger earnings and dividend growth while retaining a healthy yield, making it suitable for investors seeking both resilience andlong-term compounding returns.

In the interview, Fran discusses the trust’s selective investment strategy, which spans U.S. and Canadian markets and focuses on sectors like healthcare, technology, and consumer staples; why the company’s holdings such as Medtronic, Accenture, and Philip Morris exemplify the trust’s preference for stable, cash-generative businesses with solid management and capital allocation practices; how the team still embraces technological tailwinds like AI through companies benefiting from its adoption; and the importance of face-to-face meetings with management, robust internal research, and staying attuned to macroeconomic shifts - such as tariffs and interest rate changes - when navigating markets.

Welcome to The Two Johns, the investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron joins former Investors' Chronicle editor John Hughman to discuss the big themes dominating the investment landscape and the important issues affecting the sector, while explaining how these are influencing the way the website's ten live investment trust portfolios are being managed.

In this episode, the two Johns turn their attention to the US and the fallout from President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ – events that support our decision to be underweight US equities, and which suggest a great rotation into UK shares could be on the way as the world order shifts once again. We look at the factors behind investment companies’ long-term outperformance of their benchmarks and open-ended counterparts, before turning to the importance of setting long-term investment objectives.

CYN and GPM are investment trusts managed by New City Investment Management, which specialise in naturalresources and precious metals. CYN offers diversified exposure to global mining, energy, and commodity markets, including base metals, gold, and shipping, aiming to generate high yields and long-term capital growth. GPM, on the other hand, is a more focused trust dedicated to the precious metals sector, primarily investing in mid-sized gold and silver mining companies. Both trusts leverage New City’s expertise in commodities and macroeconomic trends to provide investors with access to inflation-resistant and high-growth assets in resource-driven industries.

In this episode, portfolio managers Robert Crayfourd andKeith Watson discuss their experience as a target of recent shareholder activism within the sector, noting the opportunistic nature of Saba Capital’s attempts to restructure these vehicles and emphasising the long-term benefits of closed-ended funds for investing in commodities and energy.

They also explain gold’s recent surge, driven by strong central bank demand, geopolitical uncertainties and inflation concerns, and why gold mining equities still present a compelling investment opportunity despite having lagged gold’s rise. They discuss their strategy of targeting mid-sized mining companies with strong management teams, sound financials, and the ability to self-fund expansion, and why increasing national self-interest reinforces their optimistic outlook for gold and resource-based investments.

Holding almost £1.5bn of assets, VEIL is the largest of three major trusts focusing exclusively on Vietnam, with a mandate of seeking long-term capital growth by investing in companies primarily operating in Vietnam. The company’s largest sector weightings are towards telecoms, technology, and financials.

In this interview, Dominic Scriven OBE, Chairman and Founder of Dragon Capital, the asset manager behind VEIL, explains to us why he believes Vietnam generates so much interest among Western investors, including its demographic, cultural and geographic strengths, and a government focused on continuous reform and becoming a high-income country by 2045; the regulatory changes coming to Vietnam’s capital markets that should help drive further foreign and domestic investment into its markets; the big trends that VEIL targets, including infrastructure development, capital market growth, global supply chain dynamics, and the growth of the consumer economy; and, as Vietnam moves closer to emerging market status, the opportunities arising from Vietnam's maturing private sector and a coming wave of IPOs from its next generation of industry.

Welcome to The Two Johns, the investment trust podcastbrought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron joins former Investors' Chronicle editor John Hughman to discuss the big themes dominating the investment landscape and the important issues affecting the sector, while explaining how these are influencing the way the website's ten live investment trust portfolios are being managed.

In this episode, they head to the Continent to explain why after a long period of economic stagnation now could be the time to buy into Europe’s unloved markets, they go back to basics to explore what makes investment trusts such useful vehicles for long-term investors, and they take a deep dive into the Dividend Portfolio and how it reliably delivers a 7% yield.

Co-managed by Ian Lance alongside Nick Purves, TMPL is a prominent UK equity income fund best known for its value-investing approach. Focused on income and long-term growth, it targets investments in undervalued areas such as financials, energy, and turnaround situations, which has helped it deliver returns far in excess of the UK investment company average, including a 19% return in 2024, more than double the 9.5% return from the FTSE All Share. The company can invest up to 30% of its portfolio overseas but is currently weighted more to the UK given the managers’ belief in the value its markets offer.

In this podcast, Ian explains how the trust’s bottom up investment approach has driven the fund’s performance, and how corporate share buybacks and takeovers have proved a catalyst for improved returns; why the company seeks out turnaround stories, and why its successful contrarian investment in retailer Marks & Spencer has further to run; how the company manages economic cyclicality and the deteriorating UK economic outlook, and why periods of economic distress create opportunities as other investors overreact to bad news; the importance of starting point valuations as a foundation for future outperformance; and why the managers remain optimistic about the company’s prospects in 2025, citing the persistently low valuation of UK equities and the portfolio’s high dividend coverage.