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Welcome to The Two Johns, the investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron will be joining 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 discuss why small companies could be about to stage a long-overdue fightback, the inconvenient market truth behind the research of leading finance academic Hendrik Bessembinder, and the reasons for Saba’s 7-0 defeat while acknowledging this doesn’t mean activism and investment companies don’t mix.

SHED is a real estate investment trust specializing in last-mile logistics used in supply chain fulfilment. The company focuses on ‘mid-box’ properties (20,000–200,000 square feet) near urban areas and key transport hubs. Since its IPO in 2016, Urban Logistics has grown its portfolio to 134 properties worth £1.2 billion, with a strategy centred on active asset management, value creation, and low-risk financing.

In this podcast we speak to CFO/COO Jamie Waldegrave and CIO Justin Upton about how the company’s laser focus on last mile logistics property has helped it build its unique portfolio and reduce its cost of capital; how it puts its deep sector knowledge to use to acquire high-potential properties with the potential for major rental uplift through targeted refurbishments; the strength of its tenant base, and how it reduces downside risk by avoiding sectors like fast-fashion; and how poor sentiment towards the wider retail sector has created a major opportunity to tap into the significant dividend streams underpinned by sharp operational management and disciplined financial management.

BNKR is a FTSE 250-listed investment company focused on delivering long-term capital growth in excess of its FTSE World Index benchmark and inflation-beating income growth to its shareholders. Established in 1888, it invests in a diversified portfolio of global equities aiming to tap into global trends in GDP growth, in particular the rapid growth on offer in Asia. That’s translated into a 57-year record of raising dividends, with a dividend paid every year since inception.

In this interview we speak to lead manager Alex Crooke

Welcome to The Two Johns, the new investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron will be joining 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 our third episode, we delve into the high-stakes world of activist investing, focusing on Saba Capital’s bold moves within the UK investment trust sector; then, in our ‘Investment Insight’ segment, we discuss the pitfalls of forecasting and why sticking to fundamentals often trumps speculative predictions; before rounding off by considering how to adjust your investment strategy as you approach the end of your investment journey.

SJG is an investment company whose aim is to deliver capital growth in excess of the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s First Section Total Return index, an objective it’s consistently delivered on over the last decade. The company runs a high-conviction portfolio of around 60 stocks across a range of sectors, taking a value-led, bottom-up approach to stock selection within thematic areas it’s identified as likely benefit from trends within the Japanese economy and beyond. The company recently announced an enhanced dividend policy with an aim of paying out 4% of NAV in each financial year.

In this podcast interview, John Hughman speaks with manager Masaki Taketsume about how corporate governance reforms have seen the Japanese market deliver strong earnings growth despite domestic economic stagnation; the country’s shift from deflation to inflation and the normalisation of Japanese monetary policy; how the company uses the deep experience of its analyst network to identify companies set to benefit from macroeconomic and shifting social dynamics within Japan; and how a growing focus on balance sheet efficiency is seeing dividends becoming a key component of investing in Japanese equities.

Welcome to The Two Johns, the new investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron will be joining 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 second episode, we’re exploring the sometimes-complex world of capital preservation trusts and their diversification credentials; then, in our ‘Investment Insight’ session, examining why the principle “Time in the market, not market timing” is a truism worth adhering to; before questioning whether actively managed ETFs really do pose a threat to the sector.

Established nearly a century ago, BUT is a long-standing, family-oriented investment company founded by Sir John Brunner, who reinvested the proceeds from selling his soda ash business to form the company. Primarily designed as a vehicle for wealth preservation across generations, the Brunner family retains a significant 28% stake in it. With assets exceeding £600 million, the trust has consistently grown its dividends for over 50 years. Managed with a global focus, its benchmark is 70% FTSE All-World and 30% FTSE All-Share, positioning it as a diversified global trust with a strong UK component.

In the interview, Julian Bishop describes Brunner’s flexible investment philosophy, which focuses on balancing quality, growth, and value; how the trust seeks to find high-quality wealth compounders like Visa and niche value stocks like Brambles, a pallet-leasing company, and how many of its holdings benefit from unique network effects; and the challenges of macroeconomic prediction and why the managers take a bottom up approach with a focus on industry structures and how companies generate the cashflows that underpin long-term outperformance.

Welcome to The Two Johns, the new investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron will be joining 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 our first episode, we'll be setting the scene about the thinking behind the website's portfolios and how they can help private investors achieve their financial goals; asking why Investment Trusts; and discussing the importance of diversification relative to remit; before focusing on the outlook for smaller companies and precious metals (and commodities in general).

HHI is an investment company that aims to provide high income and capital growth by investing primarily in UK equities and fixed interest assets. Managed by Janus Henderson Investors, the company focuses on companies that offer strong dividend yields, sustainable earnings, and potential for long-term growth. It diversifies its portfolio across various sectors, blending larger, well-established companies with smaller, higher-growth ones.

In this interview, manager David Smith tells John Hughman how the company has delivered 11 consecutive years of income growth; the rationale behind the recent merger of Henderson Diversified Income into Henderson High Income, and the benefits including increased size, improved liquidity, and cost efficiencies; why the company has recently increased exposure to mid-caps and the real estate sector; and how the group is managing its bond portfolio within the changed interest rate backdrop, notably the improved quality of its holdings.

MRCH is a long-established investment company that

In this interview we speak to Simon Gergel, manager of the Merchants Investment Trust and head of UK equities at Allianz, about how investment trusts’ revenue reserve structure makes them the perfect vehicle for delivering reliable income; why sound capital management is one of the key attributes he looks for in a bottom-up approach to identifying investments; the trust’s value-led approach, and the current attractions of more cyclical UK sectors including housebuilding, financials and real estate; and why a more stable economic and political outlook alongside depressed valuations underpins his present optimism about UK equities.