Editor’s letter
Issue 59 / February 2020
T
INVESTMENT
ACTIVITIES YOU
SHOULD LEAVE
TO THE EXPERTS
MODEL PROFESSIONALS
Reviewing the major
platforms’ model portfolios
THE GREAT DIVIDE
The growing chasm in the IT
UK All Companies sector
BOARD GAMES
Why investment trust boards
are flexing their muscles
Fund, Pension, Trust / Sector Profile / Stockpicker / What I Bought Last
ISSUE 59
CREDITS
TRUSTNET MAGAZINE IS
PUBLISHED BY THE TEAM
BEHIND TRUSTNET IN SOHO,
LONDON
WEBSITE: www.trustnet.com
EMAIL: editorial@fefundinfo.
com
his month’s
cover feature
is about the
investment activities
you should really
leave to the experts.
You may already be
a sensible investor
who has never even
considered levering
up to boost returns or
dabbling in derivatives.
If so, you are one of the
lucky ones, as plenty
of others have either
underperformed,
lost money or faced
financial ruin after
failing in areas they
shouldn’t have gone
near in the first place.
Elsewhere in this
issue, Hannah Smith
reveals what is behind
a flurry of activity by
investment trust boards
18
Anthony Luzio
Editor
T: 0207 534 7652
Javier Otero
Art direction & design
W: www.feedingcrows.co.uk
Sales
Richard Fletcher
Head of publishing sales
T: 0207 534 7662
Richard Casemore
Account manager
T: 0207 534 7669
Constance Candler
Account manager
T: 0207 534 7668
Photos supplied by iStock
Cover illustration: Javier Otero
since December’s
election, while those
focused on multi-
national large caps have
trailed in their wake.
In our usual columns,
John Blowers evaluates
the model portfolios
offered by the major
platforms, TB Amati
UK Smaller Companies’
David Stevenson
names three stocks he is using to benefit from
the growing appetite
for alternative assets
and Albemarle’s Charlie
Parker names a fund
he is backing to deliver
property-like returns
without the liquidity risk.
Enjoy reading,
Fund, pension, trust Considering the
alternatives 50
Anthony Luzio
Editor
Contents
CONTACTS:
Editorial
Gary Jackson
Editor (Trustnet)
T: 0207 534 7680
Rob Langston
News editor
T: 0207 534 7696
Eve Maddock-Jones
Reporter
T: 0207 534 7676
and Iona Bain finds out
there has been a wide
disparity of outcomes
by closed-ended funds
holding illiquid assets.
Speaking of wide
disparities, in this
month’s sector focus
Cherry Reynard
finds that IT UK All
Companies trusts with
small- and mid-cap
exposure have surged
Smith & Williamson Artificial
Intelligence, BlackRock
MyMap and Securities Trust
of Scotland find themselves
under the spotlight this month
P. 34-39
The great divide
Don’t try this at home Board games
Anthony Luzio reveals which
investment activities you would
be better off leaving to the
experts Hannah Smith finds out what
is behind a flurry of activity by
18
investment trust boards
Cherry Reynard says a chasm
has opened in the IT UK All
Companies sector
TB Amati UK Smaller
Companies’ David Stevenson
names three stocks he is using
to benefit from the growing
appetite for alternative assets
P. 60-61
What I bought last
P. 18-25 Data hub Off the list Don’t do it yourself: How DIY
investing goes wrong Albemarle’s Charlie Parker
says VT Gravis Infrastructure
Income offers property-like
returns without the liquidity
risk associated with owning
the asset class in an open-
ended fund
P. 48-49 P. 62-63
A new generation of
businesses in the Scottish
Mortgage trust are reshaping
our world by future proofing
the food chain Last year reaffirmed closed-
ended funds as the go-to
vehicle for unlisted assets, but
Iona Bain says liquidity isn’t the
only problem investors need to
watch out for in this area P. 12-17 P. 26-33 P. 50-59
P. 4-11
The future of food
P. 40-47
Model professionals
John Blowers reviews the
model portfolios offered by the
major investment platforms
26