Nick Marsh

Excellent that Phoenix and Schroders are partnering to create a huge new fund to channel money directly into fast growing private companies, as reported by the FT. "The world is shifting from public to private" and "The UK's private companies are an untapped universe of investment opportunity" according to Schroders CEO. This is fantastic news for the UK Middle Market space where entrepreneurialism is abundant in highly motivated Board rooms up and down the UK. Investment managers will likely struggle to generate market leading returns if the middle market space is absent from their strategy given the high growth nature of this market segment. It bodes well for middle market M&A advisors and sellers with more buyers now in town and means some niche advisors, if they haven't already, need to turn to private company advisory to remain in the game in the context of advisor consolidation over the last couple of years. #corporatefinance #investmentbanking #privateequity

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Join our webcast with chief strategist Luca Paolini on Tuesday 3rd December for our return forecasts for the next 12 months across asset classes as well as the implications of Trumponomics for markets. We'll also cover: -Why the UK could be the growth wildcard and outperform its European counterparts -Why we expect a modest recovery in the Euro-area economy next year -How conditions are becoming supportive for risk assets globally Register here: https://lnkd.in/dujXsWY9

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I was delighted to host a media breakfast today with journalists, where we discussed how UK investors are navigating changes within the global economy and their growing confidence in returning to equities. In a world where change is constant, we are excited to offer UK investors a global equity fund designed to thrive on transformational shifts in the global economy. Time-tested over 50+ years, our flagship global equity strategy is now available as a UK-domiciled OEIC (open-ended investment company). Find out how Capital Group could help your investments thrive on change. https://lnkd.in/dzD-pY8z Financial promotion. Investment involves risk. #CapitalGroup #investing #equities

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Really enjoyed being on the panel at Private Equity Insights conference in London last week discussing best sectors for Private Equity going forward. PE investments are long term and it’s important for PE to invest in sectors with long term positive trends. Operational improvement is key for PE managers to deliver best returns and hence specialization is a key trend we can observe in the industry. In our selection of managers, Cubera Private Equity focuses on their sector expertise and ability to improve businesses.   #privateequity

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I often refer to select specific investment options as “assets and earnings” plays where one gains exposure to tangible assets and growing profits at the same time. Whitbread (in the FTSE 100) ticks this box for me. The shares have retreated significantly from previous highs and thus have not been part of the increased buoyancy we have witnessed in the blue chip index in the recent past. This is Premier Inns in disguise with most of the business in the UK. Capital growth potential with a growing dividend not to mention always a possibly of takeover interest, an interesting opportunity perhaps. This is not investment advice and everyone must do their own research in determining suitability.

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In the Strategy Snapshot this week, Daniel Cassidy and I break down the drivers behind the market volatility, explain our current investment outlook, and share guidance for positioning during these volatile conditions. Listen to the podcast for all the details. #shareubs https://lnkd.in/e6tdDHdA

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This month, I appeared on the FT Advisor podcast speaking with Simoney Kyriakou at the Financial Times about the growth of Independent Investment Management Initiative and what this means for the outlook for specialist asset managers. We touched on regulation, DE&I, innovation and the opportunities for the most entrepreneurial firms and the most active, active asset managers in our sector. What a pleasure, thank you Simoney Kyriakou. #boutiques #assetmanagement #growth

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Afternoon, my latest blog on Labour spending and the possible impact on rates and gilts.

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An interesting article in Citywire this morning by Henry Cobbe, CFA (see below). https://lnkd.in/einXyGNY It would be remiss of me not to make the following points: 1) Public markets 'discount' (take into account) known recurring expenses. Take two listed closed-ended investment companies ('investment trusts'): A and B. Both Boards employ investment advisers who invest the trust's capital in identical cash deposits bearing 0% interest. Let's assume a 5 year management contract. A's adviser charges 1%, B's 2%. Will the share prices be the same? Of course not. B's share price, all other things equal, will be c. 5% lower to account for higher fees over the life of the management contract. Investors invest in the share price NOT the NAV. Expenses are a drag on the NAV NOT the share price. It has to be so otherwise there would be a risk-free arbitrage to short B and long A. It is inappropriate to treat these expenses in the same way we do the ongoing charges of open-ended funds and aggregate them in total cost figures (whether that's a fund of funds or a wealth management portfolio). Platforms should also not disclosure the figure to retail investors in this misleading way. Look what happened when BH Macro upped fees by 1% - the shares fell by c. 10% to discount the increased drag on NAV. I went into more detail on these issues in the below blog, and show why it is appropriate to aggregate ongoing charges of open-ended funds, but not expenses of investment trusts: https://lnkd.in/eSiyEMn5 2) Mr Cobbe has deployed a straw man. I am not aware of anyone campaigning for no disclosure. First, there is and always has been, as much disclosure for investment trusts as there is for other listed corporate entities via UK Listing rules (the reports and accounts). Second, we have been campaigning for additional disclosure via our "Statement of Operating Expenses". This would surface operating expenses in an appropriate way, express them as a percentage of NAV (for use alongside other relevant information such as premium / discount) to enable cross-comparison with open-ended funds and other investment trusts. We recognise that investment trusts share characteristics with open-ended funds, and we need disclosures that recognise that. But some trusts resemble operating companies (and compete with them) more than collective investment schemes. Crucially, the listing on a public market is a key differentiating feature and matters hugely for how expenses are disclosed. Disclose. Don't Double Count.

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A short video looking at why most approaches to decarbonisation are simply too narrow and why looking more broadly and incorporating emissions avoided beneficial. #decarbonisation #Sustainability

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Note: The following is my personal musing and not necessarily the view of GHC Capital Markets Limited It is with admiration that I post Ros Altmann’s latest column. No one has offered more support to UK 🇬🇧 #financialservices than the former Minister for Pensions, heading the campaign from within the UK House of Lords alongside her “partner in crime” Sharon Bowles, reflecting the anomalous cost disclosures regime for Members of The Association of Investment Companies (AIC)…. https://lnkd.in/e_GHBw8E are many in the industry who have assisted but the fact is, it requires political intervention to change the law). It puts to shame the House of Commons. She’s at it again, this time urging the UK government 🇬🇧 to support domestic #markets. There are many who ask why should UK 🇬🇧 #pensionfunds #institutionalinvestors and #retailinvestors allocate more of their savings at home? The lessons are there for us all IMO, if we don’t encourage! Ros is quite right to point to the effect that perceived de-risking of Pension Funds in particular has had. There was mass reduction of #equity exposure, it was going to have an effect…simple #supply and #demand tells us that. #Regulation encouraged pension funds toward greater matching of #assets to #liabilities and the shift to bonds, reflecting the locking in of returns in a lower for longer #interestrate and #inflation environment. Many people blame the speed at which UK 🇬🇧 interest rates rose on Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s failed attempt to stimulate growth and reduce the #tax burden. However, that ignores what has similarly happened around the world! I’m not a #maths or #economics genius! However, even I could work out that the 2022 reversing of QE was always going to have an impact. We of course couldn’t have predicted war in Ukraine. But we could have been more ready to react better to rising rates of interest and inflation. I just hope we manage to learn the lessons quicker than in the one country, who in the late 1980’s early 1990’s, lost its way in terms of the value of its domestic market and is only now back to its peak of that time. I refer of course to Japan 🇯🇵. So-called “Abenomics” and in particular the implementation of painful structural reforms to return the economy to a growth path is, I would suggest, finally paying off. It was effective in supporting large firms by boosting #equity markets and nurturing a sense of #stability. Japan (and German) recovery after the Second World War (for the 50 years or more that followed) was stopped by corruption, together with the collapse of Communism across the Eastern Bloc. It coincided with the rise of the European Union 🇪🇺 only now being challenged again by events in Ukraine, and before that Brexit. To kick-on, the UK 🇬🇧 and it’s markets need the support of dometic #investors. Our economy is dominated by the service sector, it’s an industry too vital not to be supported. Now is the time to act! #socialmedia

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Our just-released survey of 100 UK asset owners* explores views on the current opportunity in fixed income markets, the value of active management, preferred credit sectors for the year ahead, and the growing role of emerging market debt. For the full survey see: https://lnkd.in/eDX2h9br For professional investors only. *Views of 100 UK based institutional fixed income professionals, canvassed during February and March 2024. #CapitalGroup #FixedIncome #Investing #Bonds

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Donald Trump has been re-elected as President of the United States. Here's what it could mean for markets and how we at Coutts are managing our clients' funds and portfolios. Capital at risk. #Investing #Political #USelection #portfolios

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Further clear thinking on low dependency and run on strategies…

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Good questions Anthony Leatham and insightful answers Matt Bennison, CFA. Thanks to Asset TV for the opportunity to talk about the important issues facing markets in the autumn of 2024 and into next year

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A couple of weeks ago, Jupiter Asset Management hosted a breakfast seminar to discuss the findings of the latest Pensions for Purpose Impact Lens report which which looks at how asset owners consider diversity, equity & inclusion in how they approach investments, as well as when appointing and assessing their investment managers and other third parties. I've summarised the conversation here.. #DEI #PensionsforPurpose https://lnkd.in/erFgJt_d

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Hello everyone. Hope your week has started well. I just wanted to highlight some excellent reporting from Jamie Colvin in Citywire - see article in first link below. Tom Poynton has also had the ingenious idea to create a "forum" to garner an understanding of retail investors' understanding of the many issues facing the investment companies sector (the link is in the article). Our campaign has often highlighted how new well-intended Consumer Duty regulations have turbo-charged the negative impact of IC "cost" disclosures. Recent attention has rightly been given to one aspect of this turbo-charging: retail platforms wrongly interpreting "value" and "cost" and not only misinforming consumers, but now banning them from investing in investment companies based on utterly floored logic. Do these platforms have the expertise to be making these judgements? Where they do not and they outsource, has there been proper due diligence on third parties used to make assessments of value? https://lnkd.in/eA4SHXjW We will not rest. Have a good week. Ben https://lnkd.in/eh9G9NWM

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Thanks to the Hertfordshire Pension Fund team and their advisers for recognising the economic risks today and the future risks to their portoflio associated with climate change and environmental degradation . This is no longer debatable (just ask the unfortunate residents of Florida ) , but managing environmental risks in a portoflio is a complex challenge and should if implemented correctly also target and provide economic upside. We appreciate your foresight , support and interaction over the past year. This sees our UK local authority AUM surpass £1 billion, a great responsibility and privilege to manage. #climatechange #assetmanagement #lowcarbon

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Great to be able to contribute to this interesting piece on UK markets by David Craik at interactive investor. We’re continuing to see enormous amounts of value in the UK at BRI Wealth Management plc, especially in the mid and small cap end of the market. Investment trusts look even better value! #UKplc #investing #investmenttrusts

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