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AGT Avi Global Trust Plc

231.50
1.00 (0.43%)
28 Mar 2024 - Closed
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Stock Type
Avi Global Trust Plc AGT London Ordinary Share
  Price Change Price Change % Share Price Last Trade
1.00 0.43% 231.50 16:29:54
Open Price Low Price High Price Close Price Previous Close
229.50 229.50 232.00 231.50 230.50
more quote information »
Industry Sector
EQUITY INVESTMENT INSTRUMENTS

Avi Global AGT Dividends History

Announcement Date Type Currency Dividend Amount Ex Date Record Date Payment Date
10/11/2023SpecialGBP0.00230/11/202301/12/202304/01/2024
10/11/2023FinalGBP0.02330/11/202301/12/202304/01/2024
01/06/2023InterimGBP0.01215/06/202316/06/202314/07/2023
08/11/2022FinalGBP0.02101/12/202202/12/202203/01/2023
09/06/2022InterimGBP0.01223/06/202224/06/202215/07/2022
09/11/2021FinalGBP0.10502/12/202103/12/202104/01/2022
26/05/2021InterimGBP0.0610/06/202111/06/202102/07/2021
29/05/2020FinalGBP0.10503/12/202004/12/202004/01/2021
29/05/2020InterimGBP0.0611/06/202012/06/202003/07/2020
12/11/2019FinalGBP0.14505/12/201906/12/201906/01/2020

Top Dividend Posts

Top Posts
Posted at 11/3/2024 14:45 by davebowler
htTTps://citywire.com/investment-trust-insider/news/bauernfreund-hipgnosis-is-playing-my-tune-says-avi-global-bargain-hunter



Bauernfreund: Hipgnosis is playing my tune, says AVI Global bargain hunter
Last week's big writedown at Hipgnosis Songs was a positive development for activist Joe Bauernfreund who holds 5% of the shares and stakes in other under-valued funds and holding companies in the AVI Global Trust.
Danielle Levy
BY
DANIELLE LEVY

While investors initially took fright last Monday after Hipgnosis Songs (SONG) slashed the value of its music royalties by 26% (with a 31% drop in net asset value), AVI Global (AGT) fund manager Joe Bauernfreund viewed the announcement as an important step in a potential turnaround.

The news sparked an 8% fall in Hipgnosis’ share price to 57.9p on Monday 4 March as the board suspended dividends for the foreseeable future to focus on paying off the fund’s $674m debt pile.

However, the shares subsequently recovered to end Friday at 62.7p, just below where they began the week, but still on a significant 31% discount to the new net asset value (NAV) that bargain-hunter Bauernfreund hopes will narrow and boost the return on the investment.

Bauernfreund (below) believes the board of SONG may well have been ‘kitchen sinking’, or rather presenting all the bad news to investors in one go in the hope that things can only improve from here. He views the NAV announcement as a necessary step so the board and shareholders can understand what the portfolio of 65,000 songs is truly worth.

Joe Bauernfreund - AVI
‘The final number was slightly below where we thought a realistic NAV was but not massively so,’ said the manager of the £1bn AVI Global trust, which targets undervalued companies and investment trusts and holds 5% of SONG.


Hipgnosis’ operative net asset value (NAV) was 92p per share at the end of December, according to new valuer Shot Tower Capital. This is a sharp decline from 142.49p at the end of September, a valuation provided by former valuer Citrin Cooperman.

Board on right track
‘I think the new board is doing the right things. There is a sense they are “kitchen sinking”, but I think that was necessary. We need them to come in and really get to grips with what occurred under the previous board and manager, to understand what we own and what its value is.’

Once this has been ascertained, the board can decide whether to wind up the fund; sell the assets to bidders and return capital to shareholders; or appoint a new fund manager to replace Merck Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis Songs Management (HSM).

From here, Bauernfreund would like the trust’s contractual arrangement with HSM to be ‘resolved̵7;. Ideally, he would like to sell AVI’s investment at NAV and move on to other opportunities. However, he acknowledged this may not be possible if it comes at a big cost for Hipgnosis.


Asset Value Investors (AVI), where Bauernfreund is also chief executive, has held a position in Hipgnosis since 2020 and increased its stake ahead of a continuation vote in October. At the time, it successfully lobbied other shareholders to vote against the vote and to block a proposed sale of a fifth of the company’s assets to a related party, Hipgnosis Songs Capital (a partnership between HSM and Blackstone).

Investors late to the party
Following a tumultuous year for the music royalties fund, Bauernfreund suggests there are several lessons to consider.

‘I think a lot of investors bought in thinking it was a magic sector that was able to give them uncorrelated returns to equity markets, that were unlikely to ever go down in value and would forever provide them with an attractive income.

‘A number of factors conspired to challenge that notion. First of all, interest rates going up has an effect on valuations. It is pretty basic, but I think some investors forgot that.’

Secondly, he notes the management arrangement with HSM was not set up with the best interests of shareholders in mind. Here, he is referring to incentives for the manager to buy assets that ‘were not fantastic in all cases’ in order to grow the investment trust and management fee.

‘The arrangement between the manager and Blackstone had conflicts built into it and I guess the previous board was not on top of that. Now shareholders find themselves in a situation where they might be aggrieved with the manager but find it very difficult to remove them,’ he added.

Bauernfreund remains positive on the prospects of the music industry in general, particularly in light of the potential growth of streaming services, but says Hipgnosis’ structure and contractual arrangements have caused it to disappoint.

There may also be a broader theme of private investors getting access to an asset class, long after institutional investors, at a point when returns are harder to come by.

‘Over the years we have seen this time and time again. Investors get excited about a new asset class or one that institutional investors have access to. By the time retail investors are invited to the party it is perhaps drawing to a close,’ he concluded.
Posted at 01/3/2024 08:51 by davebowler
Master Investor -
Double Discount
Another of their new additions is AVI Global (LON: AGT), which has an unusual mandate in that it seeks to find overlooked, undervalued stocks with a potential catalyst to narrow the discount. The portfolio consists of a mixture of investment trusts, holding companies and Japanese shares, with the managers actively working to improve corporate governance to unlock the value.

AVI offers discounted exposure to cheap investment trusts including a basket of listed private equity funds, as well as Hipgnosis Songs. There are also various European holding companies, such as EXOR and Aker, as well as alternative asset managers like KKR and Brookfield AM.

Numis think that it might be a good time to invest in the fund, based on the double discount. The shares trade nine percent below NAV and there is significant value in the underlying holdings, which trade on a weighted average discount of 33% as at 31 December.
Posted at 01/2/2024 16:37 by riverman77
That's really bad - I would just leave Fidelity and join a new platform. Perhaps just take a small hit and sell AGT in Fidelity and then buy back on the new platform - will probably cost about 1% (stamp duty plus dealing spread) but at least it will be sorted and never deal with Fidelity again!
Posted at 01/2/2024 16:26 by davebowler
You have my sympathies. Barclays, ii and AJ Bell,to my knowledge, see no problem with holding AGT. I'm surprised that Fidelity don't allow an 'in specie' intact share transfer. Might be worth pressing them on that. At least you have AVI on your side, quite rightly!
Posted at 30/1/2024 19:53 by fastcat99
Do any other investors here hold AGT on the Fidelity platform, and feel as utterly frustrated as I at the 'soft closure' which has applied there for the last six months? - ie Fidelity will maintain an existing holding, but block any new purchases!! Dave Bowler is clearly aware of the issue, but I wonder if there are others who care...

Let me state, before going into detail below, that I would simply like any other interested readers to DM me, so we can discuss further joint action, maybe starting a dedicated post on the subject.

I have discussed at some length with Fidelity (which still refuse to disclose their actual reasoning) and I also raised the issue at the AGT AGM in December: the Board confirmed that they have challenged Fidelity on this point but got no further than I.
It's pretty obvious that Fidelity acted out of concern on "Double Counted Fees" (the technical issue which is covered in the Citywire report posted #365 above), as their soft closure was announced within days of the new "consumer protection obligation" coming into force in July last year.
But at least four major objections remain:
1. no other major platform has taken this action (I stand to be corrected, but the AGT Board is of the same view);
2. as long as NO reason is given by Fidelity, consumers are actually confused, not 'protected';
3. Fidelity has allowed a dividend reinvestment to take place earlier this month, so they appear to be back-pedalling on their previously 'clear' (hem, hem) position.
and 4. if FCA is now meant to adopt an 'interim solution' ahead of actual legislation (as per the Citywire report above), it clearly DOES NOT itself consider the double-counting to be valid, and therefore Fidelity will have to be VERY careful if they invoke an interpretation of consumer interest contrary to that of the regulatory authority.

I have been substantively inconvenienced (Fidelity rules do not allow partial transfers-out from an ISA, so I cannot consolidate my AGT holdings there and elsewhere) as well as really irritated by their "patronising and high-handed behaviour".
If others feel the same, lets join forces to gain some moral retribution :)
Posted at 18/1/2024 10:13 by davebowler
htTPs://www.trustintelligence.co.uk/articles/opinion-december-sees-sharp-rally-in-agt-and-ajot-jan-2024
Posted at 10/1/2024 11:07 by davebowler
Dec report out
Posted at 29/12/2023 15:25 by steve3sandal
Fairly quick run up from 210p - 220p, and with NAV now 248p there seems to be little to prevent the share price taking out the ATH when peeps get back to work. I will be reinvesting my dividend next week as the ATH here still represents good value v NAV in my view.
Anyone make the AGM?
Hopefully there’ll be a video, presentation or Q&A on the website at some point.
GLA.
Posted at 28/9/2023 09:11 by davebowler
......The focus on discounted opportunities means AGT trades on an effective ‘double discount’ to the NAV of the underlying holdings. Data provided by the manager, suggests that AGT’s double discount was 48% as of 31/07/2023, which is significantly wider than the 33.3% average since AVI took over the management of the trust. In fact, it is very close to the historically wide levels seen during the coronavirus pandemic and again wider than that seen during the GFC and the Eurozone crisis in 2011. We believe this may be suggestive of good potential returns for a longer-term investor, particularly if a softer-than-expected economic landing evolves
Posted at 24/8/2023 08:55 by davebowler
As for my pick, following a pullback in valuations over 2022, AGT’s manager, Joe Bauernfreund, sought to increase his exposure to his highest-conviction positions with a focus on more idiosyncratic, event-driven strategies. This included renewed interest in the US and also increased allocations to alternative asset managers KKR, Apollo Global and Oakley Capital Investments, all of which appear in the top ten holdings. Joe remains confident in the long-term strategies of these holdings and the defensive nature of their revenues, with management fees predominantly charges on long-duration committed capital. The three investments have returned 30.6%, 28.5% and 10% respectively this YTD.

Impressively, AGT is the top performer in the global sector over the past three years, which has been helped by the manager’s valuation-sensitive approach in the high-inflation and high-interest rate environment. The allocation to Japan has helped performance this year, as the adjustment in the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy stance has had a positive impact on the basket of four Japanese regional banks held in the portfolio. AGT’s double discount remains close to its widest level since the Eurozone crisis, which may offer a particularly strong long-term entry point.

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