Ecofin Global Utilities ... Share Discussion Threads

[orinocor] 02/2/2017 09:40

ex-divi today

[spectoacc] 20/1/2017 07:30

Needs to be read in conjunction with their performance so far. Hopefully can do better going forwards.

Ignoring share price - which they have little control over - the 3 month figures are:

FTSE All-Share +3.9%
FTSE World +7.2%
World Utilities +2%
ECWO -3.6%

1 month little better - World Utilities +5.9%, ECWO NAV +5.1%. Haven't quoted share price figs as they've much less control over that - though not losing 3.6% of NAV over the 3 months the index gained 2% would help.

I am - and remain - a holder, but a sceptical one.

[neilyb675] 19/1/2017 21:30

10 Largest ;holdings %of Portfolio Country
SSE 4.2 UK
NextEraEnergy Partners 3.9 US
Algonquin Power andUtilities 3.7 Canada
Ferrovial 3.7 Spain
ENGIE 3.3 France
SuezEnvironnement 3.2 France
Innogy 3.0 Germany
United Utilities 2.8 UK
PatternEnergy 2.8 US
Enagas 2.8 Spain

Total(of 50holdings) 33.4

[orinocor] 19/1/2017 17:31

portfolio update today

Manager’s ;comments:
 As we write these lines, the portfolio has recovered about 8% from the lows reached in November following Donald Trump’s
(unexpected) election victory.  The severe downturn which ensued in our universe – caused by concerns about both a more
inflationary environment globally and a less climate change friendly energy policy in the US – presented opportunities to buy
high quality names on the cheap.  The dividend yield on our universe relative to bond yields is close to all‐time highs and, in
our view, represents a clear opportunity and reinforces the rationale of our investment strategy.  ;The gross dividend yield
on the portfolio currently stands at 5.4%.
 Global markets have started 2017 with a ‘risk‐on’ mind‐set. ; Since Donald Trump’s election, investors have tended to favour
cyclical sectors and they have shunned long‐duration business models like utilities, anticipating a protracted period of rising
interest rates.  According to Wolfe Research, 70% of US investors are underweight utilities and only 9% are overweight, an
unprecedented imbalance; Exane estimates comparably low exposure to utilities by European investors.
 We, however, find significant and fundamental attraction in our investment universe which offers a combination of growth
and sustainable dividends, often with some inflation hedge.  In the US, some infrastructure companies will benefit from the
new administration’;s much anticipated investment programme and, while utilities may be out of favour currently,
fundamentals remain strong and companies are demonstrating an average dividend growth profile of more than 6% per
annum.  Considering the US equity market is trading at all‐time highs and investors have thus far exhibited little doubt in the
implementation of the President‐elect’s mooted economic policies, utilities may behave like safe‐havens.  We doubt that US
renewable energy policy can or will be reversed and, therefore, we still favour those operators which benefit from secure
returns on a high quality asset base.
 In Europe, the context is more diverse given the differences in regulatory models and business mixes. As a sector, European
utilities have been hit even harder than their US counterparts since November, principally due to the spike in European
government bond yields.  Nevertheless, the cost of debt remains very low and European utilities and infrastructure names
will benefit from a gradual acceleration in GDP growth and inflation, and regulators still want to incentivise investment given
the high capex requirements in energy infrastructure.
 Overall, we favour companies with low leverage, opportunity for growth and solid dividend policies. In the pure regulated
space, we look for inflation‐hedging formulae.  ;We are sceptical about the sustainability of a commodity‐driven rally and,
consequently, the portfolio has a fairly low weighting in thermal power generators; instead, we favour those companies
which are more immune to external factors and policy changes.
Asset allocation % of Portfolio
Equities 98.9
Fixed‐interest 1.1
100.0
Sector allocation % of Portfolio
Regulated utilities and infrastructure 54.2
Integrated utilities 29.0
Renewables (incl. YieldCos) 16.8
100.0
This document is issued by Ecofin Limited (the “Investment Manager”), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, in
relation to Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure Trust plc (“Ecofin Global”).
Ecofin Global is a newly incorporated United Kingdom investment trust whose shares are listed on the premium segment of the Official List and
trade on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange. The promotion of Ecofin Global and the distribution of this
document inside and outside the United Kingdom is also restricted by law.   
This document does not constitute or form part of any offer to issue or sell, or any solicitation of any offer to subscribe or purchase, any shares
in Ecofin Global. The information contained in this document are for background purposes only and do not purport to be full or complete. The
Investment Manager believes that the source of the information disclosed in this document is reliable. However, no representation, warranty or
undertaking, express or implied, is given as to the completeness of the information contained in this document by the Investment Manager, and
no liability is accepted by the Investment Manager for the completeness of any such information.
Released: 19 January, 2017
TICKER: EGL SEDOL: BD3V464

[orinocor] 19/1/2017 17:27

new NAV update. Now 133.96p

[spectoacc] 18/1/2017 12:05

All gone a bit quiet - which is fine by me. Big seller presumably done.

[orinocor] 12/1/2017 15:21

The NAV has shot up to 134.5p. Probably sterling weakness inspired, at least in part.

[orinocor] 10/1/2017 11:14

speed , I'm not sure what the peers are. If you look at the big investee companies that make up 30% of the NAV then they all look to me like big utilities. Electricty, water along these lines. Maybe if you look deeper into the portfolio you will find more companies that look like infrastructure type businesses.

[speedsgh] 10/1/2017 10:53

What are closest peers to EGL? HICL? GCP? SEQI? Thanks in advance.

[speedsgh] 09/1/2017 16:21

I see that the EGL board comprises the same 4 NEDs that were also the NEDs in ECWO:

Ian Barby (Non-Executive Chairman of EGL & ECWO)
Iain McLaren (NED)
Martin Nègre (NED & former Non-Executive Chairman of ECWO)
David Simpson (NED)

see pg40 of EGL prospectus for more details -

All 4 directors have been buying EGL shares since its IPO. According to my calculations based on rns notifications:

Martin Nègre has bought 1,043,511 EGL at total cost £1,309,658
Ian Barby has bought 145,532 at total cost £197,260
David Simpson has bought 65,395 at total cost £88,639
Iain McLaren has bought 20,000 at total cost £24,500

Quite impressive amounts, especially by Martin Nègre.

I am slightly confused re these directors total shareholdings. According to pg54 of the EGL propectus, Directors' Interests in ECWO as at the date of the Prospectus were:

Ian Barby - 291,604
Iain McLaren - 20,000
Martin Nègre - 1,258,371
David Simpson - 65,395

The prospectus states that "On completion of the Issue, these holdings will remain their holdings in the Company assuming that there are no Elections by Directors or otherwise for the Cash Exit. However, such holdings in the Company may differ depending on the number of Elections made for the Cash Exit."

Does anyone know what happened to these holdings as the total holdings (aggregated volume) for each director in the more recent Director/PDMR Shareholding rnses do not seem to include these existing shareholdings?

[speedsgh] 09/1/2017 16:06

orinocor/SpectoAcc - Thanks for your considerable input. EGL only just come onto my radar so still doing initial research but looks interesting, esp if we get some weakness from the current level. In an ideal world would prefer to join at a 15% rather than 10% discount but perhaps I'm being greedy.

orinocor - re your post #112. I believe Artemis were an existing shareholder. From pg56 of the EGL prospectus -

"Also, as at the date of this Prospectus and insofar as is known to the Company, assuming no elections are made to take up the Cash Exit and no ZDP Shareholders elect to participate in the Subsidiary Scheme, the following persons will, immediately following the Issue, be directly or indirectly interested in 3 per cent. or more of the Company’s share capital:

Artemis Fund Managers Ltd - 13.29%...

Given that the Company does not yet know the take-up of the Cash Exit or the number
of ZDP Shareholders who will roll over their investment into Shares pursuant to the
Subsidiary Scheme, the Company’s major Shareholders following Admission, may be
materially different to those set out above."

So most likely that the Artemis holdings rns on 29/12 was notifying the market of their EGL shareholding following the spin off from ECWO. Indeed the rns states that the reason for notification was: Other - Spin Off

[orinocor] 09/1/2017 11:40

Theresa's comments at the week-end hitting sterling which is down heavily against dollar and euro. Good for EGL's net asset value.

[spectoacc] 09/1/2017 07:47

MPO periodically return cash, and are likely to wind themselves up in 2 years time (but isn't certain as yet).

[orinocor] 08/1/2017 15:09

had a look at mpo but there is no divi which is important to me.

[spectoacc] 06/1/2017 16:33

Had a great run in BTEM & like so many sales recently, regret not hanging on to it!

There's cheaper ITs IMO but I agree with you on the P2P co's (not least P2P itself, which I've twice held & dumped again).

On a discount & value basis - MPO worth a look IMO.

[orinocor] 06/1/2017 16:22

Yes and thanks to BTEM I was able to buy as low as 107p. Still cheaper on most metrics than nearly any other mainstream trust I can find. The likes of P2P and RDL may be cheaper but they look very risky.
I must remember never to shares in BTEM.

[spectoacc] 05/1/2017 14:09

Some decent buying today to be fair. I've enough already.

Haven't seen any evidence that BTEM are out, but any very large trades would be many days delayed.

[orinocor] 05/1/2017 11:59

For 2017 i'm expecting a much more normal discount of 7% for a share price of 123p and a 5.2% yield.

Adding on the 4*1.6p dividends to give an annual return of 17p (6.4p + 10.6p) which is 15%.

[orinocor] 04/1/2017 22:18

Moving up a little and a big buy showing at 115p. BTEM were below 3% and I think could be fully out now.

[spectoacc] 04/1/2017 15:32

Lolol @orinocor, that clears that up! :)

[orinocor] 04/1/2017 15:01

I'm not counting the christmas and new year period. I'm also not counting the week before that. That trims it down to a week.

[spectoacc] 04/1/2017 13:01

NAV 130.36p 21/12
131.61p 28/12
132.14p 30/12 (gearing 11.4%)

Not sure why they saw the need to release a 2-day NAV, hadn't noticed it was so close to the previous one.

Not sure where you get the 5% from? Looks like +1.36% over 9 days. The XD will of course drop the NAV, though I'm in it for the income.

[orinocor] 04/1/2017 12:54

NAV has gone up 5% in just over a week.
Gearing is only 10%.

[spectoacc] 04/1/2017 12:48

132.14p for 30 Dec NAV, bit pedestrian considering the gearing.

[orinocor] 03/1/2017 09:39

FTSE up 70 points but portfolio stocks fallen back, now flat. Even big companies can be volatile.