Utilico Emerging Markets Share Discussion Threads

[vacendak] 28/4/2022 17:59

If UEM is safe-ish EM by focusing on utilities, BRFI is nitroglycerin, well the "F" is indeed "frontier". :)

Trying to avoid China because my Witan Pacific holdings turned into 100% China with BGCG and... "not doing well" at the moment is an understatement.

ATR, I may have a look, thanks, China at 10% now, I could do with that.
MMIT and ATR looks similar, ATR is bigger though.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, I now have some ARs and factsheets to peruse.

[jfinvestments] 28/4/2022 17:40

*reduced China.

[jfinvestments] 28/4/2022 17:40

I think JMG is a great trust at a near 10% discount last time I looked. Market cap is huge and has performed historically. It is 22% China though, but at a good price.Otherwise, ATR. Reduced Asia recently. 6% discount to Nav or so at the minute. Took a hit as it is about 40% tech. Neither pay the dividend of UEM. BRFI is another option with more dividend, but I think it's a little over priced as we possibly head into a recession.

[jonwig] 28/4/2022 17:23

One of my brokers recommends the Moebius Trust, MMIT. I've a small holding there - not so large as in UEM.

[vacendak] 28/4/2022 15:58

Trying to pick the brains of people owning or following UEM.

UEM is my only exposure to EM at the moment, barring some meagre percentages from my global ITs.

I would be looking for "ex-China" or "not much China". Playing around on the AIC website, I am looking into BEMO and BRLA. They were also mentioned on a Kepler article on "value" recently.



BEMO (Barings Europe/Middle-East Africa)
BRLA (Blackrock Lat-Am)

BEMO got seriously burnt recently thanks to having been heavy Russia, potentially creating an entry point.
BRLA gets trounced by UEM over 10Y but has perked up recently.

Any thought? Or anything else I may have missed?

[vacendak] 25/4/2022 11:24

ICM is first in the list of investors:



The site is a bit slow and has at least one major 404 on "Customers & Partners".
Since I cannot find a share ticker, I must conclude they are not listed yet.

ICM had backed a big winner with AfterPay (through UIL Ltd) a couple of years ago. This could potentially be a strong one too.

[jonwig] 25/4/2022 06:45

If you believe the FT, the UK was relegated to EM status in 2016 from the Brexit vote on.

[vacendak] 24/4/2022 19:02

The March factsheet offers a pleasing read with regards to performance.
Apparently we are now invested in Petalite (at 3.1%) an EV infrastructure company in the UK.
So long for "Emerging Market" then. :)

This seems to list under "Other Europe" in the geo split.

[steve3sandal] 17/3/2022 16:59

I bought an initial position today. Good long term track record. I like the real assets in the real world meme. The economic world just got a bit smaller and these assets have appeal to me. Quite happy to average up at a decent discount.

[jonwig] 17/3/2022 16:59

vac - thanks. I've known Edison to withdraw coverage of companies where they have, I guess, been asked to be over-keen.

[vacendak] 17/3/2022 16:08

I know these reports are sponsored; but it reads well and is encouraging.
I am considering topping up a bit on UEM.

It has been stuck in a band for a while and due one of its customary unpredicted growth spikes.

[speedsgh] 21/6/2021 15:16

Annual Financial Report -

Highlights of results

· Dividends per share totalled 7.775p for the year, an increase of 2.6%. Dividends were fully covered by earnings
· Revenue earnings per share ("EPS") of 8.13p, an increase of 3.2% from the prior year
· Total revenue income of £22.8m, a decrease of 5.1% from the prior year
· Net asset value ("NAV") total return per share of 30.2%* (2020: -24.9%*)
· NAV per share of 228.54p* per share, up 25.7%
· Gross assets of £556.1m, an increase of 20.5%

John Rennocks, Chairman of UEM said: "We are pleased to announce UEM turned in a strong performance and importantly delivered a NAV total return of 30.2% for the year to 31 March 2021, outperforming the MSCI Emerging Markets Utilities Index which was only up by 17.2% during the twelve months. It is also pleasing to report UEM's revenue earnings per share increased by 3.2%, given the challenges faced by investee businesses and their need to preserve cash flow, especially in the first six months to 30 September 2020. UEM has now declared four quarterly dividends totalling 7.775p per share, a 2.6% increase over the previous year and the fourth quarterly dividend of 2.00p represents an uplift of 3.9% on the prior quarterly dividend. Dividend income recovered strongly in the second half of the year and dividends remain fully covered by income. The Board remains confident this quarterly rate will be maintained for the next financial year.

"Responsible investing has long been a core component to UEM's investment process and continues to be a focus for UEM. UEM's Investment Managers continue to strengthen their ESG approach to investing and ICM has recently become a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.

"Despite the impact of COVID-19 on UEM's portfolio, it is worth noting that no UEM investee company has needed or is expected to require significant restructuring or refinancing. The strategic nature and business model strength of UEM's portfolio has been excellent, with most of the businesses having proved resilient. Coupled with strong government and central bank support the Board does not today see a significant risk from COVID-19 outside of market volatility in valuations."

Charles Jillings, Investment Manager of UEM added: "COVID-19 has caused unprecedented challenges for investors. ICM is strongly of the view that due to COVID-19, the shift to working from home and eCommerce has accelerated the digitalisation of governments, businesses and individuals, and this shift will offer new investment opportunities.

"UEM's gross assets (less liabilities excluding loans) increased sharply to £556.1m as at 31 March 2021 from £461.4m as at 31 March 2020. There have been eight new entries into the top twenty holdings of the portfolio over the year, as well as small sector shifts. On a geographic basis, South Korea has increased through investment and performance rising from 1.7% to 6.5% and Brazil saw the biggest reduction from 29.1% to 18.0%.

"UEM's portfolio consists of a diverse range of companies that are often under-represented in the MSCI. The strength of our sector and country knowledge built up over decades has given us an ability to continue to identify these investments, in spite of COVID-19 and global lockdowns. Despite unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19, UEM's investment objective to provide positive long-term absolute returns has not changed, and we remain optimistic to uncover compelling investments that offer excellent returns."

[speedsgh] 25/3/2021 23:08

Changes to Investment Management Fee Arrangements -

The Board of Utilico Emerging Markets Trust plc ("UEM" or the "Company") announces that, following a review, the Company has agreed with ICM Investment Management Limited and ICM Limited (together the "Joint Portfolio Managers") that, with effect from the start of UEM's new financial year on 1 April 2021, the performance fee will be discontinued and the investment management fee payable to the Joint Portfolio Managers will be amended from 0.65% per annum of the Company's net asset value ("NAV") to a tiered structure as follows:

1.0% of NAV up to and including £500m;

· 0.9% of NAV exceeding £500m up to and including £750m;

· 0.85% of NAV exceeding £750m up to and including £1,000m; and

· 0.75% of NAV exceeding £1,000m

The Board believes that the removal of the performance fee will result in a simpler and more transparent cost structure which will contribute to a stable ongoing charge. Furthermore, the tiered investment management fee has the benefit of reducing rates at increasing NAV levels, allowing shareholders to benefit from the increasing economies of scale that a larger portfolio provides. The existing fee arrangements (including any performance fee payable) will continue until the end of UEM's current financial year ending on 31 March 2021.

The Board is confident that the new structure will maintain a competitive ongoing charge and thereby help in attracting private wealth managers and retail investors.

The changes to the investment management fee arrangements constitute a smaller related party transaction under the Listing Rules issued by the Financial Conduct Authority. The Company has obtained written confirmation from its Sponsor that the terms of such changes are fair and reasonable as far as the Company's shareholders are concerned.

[jfinvestments] 25/3/2021 17:23

What changes?

[edwardt] 25/3/2021 11:11

not happy about that fee changes. heads and tails the fund manager wins.

[vacendak] 02/12/2020 15:27

Yep, they have made it clear that the dividend is sacro-saint.

There is an interview somewhere with Charles Jillings talking about the history of the trust and how they pitched it to institutional investors prior to the launch. The institutions were after emerging market with income.

Nice little recovery for the past few weeks. The NAV is now back safely above 200p.

[speedsgh] 02/12/2020 13:24

Utilico Emerging Markets: We will cover our 4% dividend -

[davebowler] 25/11/2020 09:56

Stifel comments-
Utilico Emerging Markets – Interims to 30/09/20 – underperforms as growth
remains in vogue
Performance: Despite difficult markets the fund’s NAV recovered +10.3% and reports a NAV total
return of +12.3%. This return lagged the MSCI Emerging Markets total return index which was up
+24.2%, as investors globally have driven digital investments higher, while generally ignoring
infrastructure and utility investments, and the Brazilian Real weakening by 11.7% which in itself reduced
UEM's GBP NAV by an estimated -3.5%. Despite UEM's portfolio being largely value-based utilities and
infrastructure assets, UEM has outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets Utilities total return index
which was up +1.5%.
Earnings: Revenue income decreased to £14.7m, an 18.7% decline and EPS decreased 12.5% to
5.59p (2019: 6.39p). The board expects to maintain the third and fourth quarter dividends at 1.925p
which would result in dividends for the full year to 31 March 2021 of 7.70p – an uplift of +1.7% over the
year to 31 March 2020 (2020: 7.575p). Dividends remain fully covered by income at the half-year and if
needed the board will use its revenue reserves or substantial capital reserves to maintain the dividend
payments. As at 30 September 2020, UEM has revenue reserves of £9.8m, some 4.38p per share.
Outlook: The chairman says, “It is pleasing to see most of UEM's portfolio companies performing well
in the circumstances. It is worth re-emphasising that UEM's performance continues to be driven by
bottom-up stock selection. The portfolio is predominantly invested in relatively liquid, cash-generative
companies with long-duration assets that the Investment Managers believe are structurally undervalued
and offer excellent total returns. Since inception over 15 years ago, UEM's track record of performance
has been reassuring and the Board has every confidence that the Investment Managers will continue to
identify investments offering attractive, long-term returns for UEM.” (

[speedsgh] 24/11/2020 11:10

Dividend Declaration Q2 2020-21 -

The Board of Utilico Emerging Markets Trust plc has declared a second quarterly interim dividend of 1.925p per ordinary share in respect of the year ending 31 March 2021, which will be paid on 18 December 2020 to shareholders on the register on 4 December 2020. The ex-dividend date will be 3 December 2020.

[vacendak] 12/10/2020 16:52

City of London sold on Thursday, then buys back today (Monday)... oh well.

[vacendak] 23/9/2020 17:45

Good read, some interesting point on the "tech" component in the trust.