Ben Conway, head of fund management and CIO at Hawksmoor Investment Management, said discounts had become 'too wide and too persistent' in the British investment trust industry.
Takeover attempts: Saba Capital, whose chief investment officer is Boaz Weinstein (pictured), recently tried to gain control of seven London-listed investment trusts.
The affected trusts were Baillie Gifford US Growth, CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income, Edinburgh Worldwide, European Smaller Companies, Henderson Opportunities, Herald Investment Trust, and Keystone Positive Change.
'To make a difference to discounts, the quantum of the buybacks must be materially different and not just one-offs - you can make a difference on discounts through sensibly managed buyback policies,' said Peter Hewitt, fund manager for CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust.
Yet this has failed to seriously improve valuations; the average investment trust discount - not counting 3i and venture capital trusts - totalled 12.5 per cent in January 2023, but this has since risen to 13.8 per cent as of last month.
