British & American Inves... Share Discussion Threads

[coolen] 17/3/2013 21:44

Which begs the question of why the managers opted for this over-weight position ?
Should shareholders push for management changes ?

[deepvalueinvestor] 17/3/2013 15:05

Trustsnet will have that info. This one is quirky because of the large holding of Geron

[coolen] 17/3/2013 14:33

Are there any performance tables available to demonstrate how good the BAF managers are, say over 2,5,10 years ?

[deepvalueinvestor] 17/3/2013 10:11

Thanks, not spotted this so will look tomorrow.

[rabain] 17/3/2013 00:53

Sold out on Friday at 0.7611, can't see how the share price is holding up in light of Geron's fall and also how the divi can possibly be maintained....which let's face it is the only reason to be a holder of baf. Am now sleeping easier!

[topvest] 15/12/2012 17:02

That's good news - lets hope we have a change in sentiment on Geron so that BAF can unload their holding at a better price.

[rabain] 15/12/2012 09:32

Geron up another 6% yesterday that's a rise this week of 50% on the back of positive test results

[rabain] 10/12/2012 16:47

Geron up 26% today, which is great but other than that this trust appears to be defying gravity...presumably that means someone knows something I don't.

[topvest] 10/9/2012 19:05

Yes, ooouch - 50% down!

[rabain] 10/9/2012 17:58

Too late!!!

[topvest] 09/9/2012 10:21

Geron Corp. share price up quite a bit over the last few months. Lets hope they sell this stake in 12m or so if the share price really takes off. They do need to get out of this stake when the time is right in my opinion. Not yet, but if it doubles or triples from where it is now.

[coolen] 31/8/2011 22:52

Geron Corporation is duly proving a disaster for British & American Investment Trust (BAF).

BAF today issued a statement which blames its own underperformance on poor management at Geron.

Posters here flagged the situation 12 months ago. So why are BAF's own shareholders still not asking why the trust took a huge (and costly) gamble on a share which few UK investors have ever heard of ?

It is not time that someone else took the helm here ?

[coolen] 01/9/2010 21:33

Any reason, such as trade or family link, for such a major punt on Geron ?

[topvest] 02/8/2010 18:20

They need this particular investment to come good really. Could be a company maker if things go well, but I would like to see them start selling this investment if the price rises significantly. Their current dividend policy and rather short term policy of buying shares ahead of dividends to keep income up is not sustainable medium term. Nevertheless, could still come good.

[mw8156] 02/8/2010 17:37

A third on/off a holding constituting a quarter of the portfolio adds/loses about 8 per cent to the NAV by my reckoning.

[coolen] 01/8/2010 20:45

Great spot !

Impact on NAV of BAF ?

[topvest] 31/7/2010 17:42

Yes - well spotted

[mw8156] 31/7/2010 14:30

some good news for Geron their largest holding; hope the trial works as they are engaged in a potentially life-restoring endeavour and Hesc therapy could then be trialled in other therapeutic areas eg autoimmune disease including type 1 and type 1.5 diabetes...

[coolen] 04/7/2010 23:48

Hi topvest,

Only going from memory, but I think it was the film business that generated the cash. That then took the company into investments. As the see-saw moved towards the latter, it became an investment trust. Maybe a look at the cv of the present and/or past directors might throw a light on it.

[topvest] 15/6/2010 21:31

Doesn't look like it. They do continue to get film royalties, but it seems a declining business. You've been looking at this one for far longer than me. Was this originally a film business, then before it became an investment trust?

[coolen] 13/6/2010 22:57

I looked at this company many, many moons ago when it went under its previous title of British & American Films Ltd, hence the "F" in its present stock market code of BAF.

The rumour then was of undervalued media royalties tucked away in the balance sheet. Has anything along these lines ever come to light ?

[washbrook] 22/4/2010 16:20

I have always wanted to buy this -but the spread.
I hold RIT,Dunedin Inc,Scottish American,Invesco Income which are parts of the portfolio.

[topvest] 13/5/2009 09:06

What irritates me as a new holder is that they keep referencing to their web-site which hasn't worked for at least 3 months!

[topvest] 30/4/2009 21:34

Geron Corp could be interesting if we get a recovery in the US...they are in a relatively hot sector...

"The improved performance from Geron followed the election of the Obama
administration in the USA in November 2008 which is greatly more supportive of
the innovative embryonic stem cell technology which forms half of Geron's
business. Furthermore, with the change in political climate, Geron was granted
clearance in January 2009 by the US Federal Drug Administration to commence its
ground-breaking and world-exclusive trials of its embryonic stem cell
technology to cure spinal injuries in humans.

This extremely significant event was celebrated in a full front page article in
the Times newspaper and in other leading publications worldwide. "