Value And Indexed Proper... Share Discussion Threads

[zcaprd7] 15/7/2019 09:29

The Board notes that Resolutions 4, 5 and 6, being Ordinary Resolutions relating to the re-appointment of Mr Ferguson, Mr Kay and Mr Smith, were all duly passed but recognises that a significant minority of the votes cast were against these Resolutions. It is intended that the Board will give this due consideration in its future deliberations.

[zcaprd7] 15/7/2019 09:28

Some bad feeling?

[coolen] 15/6/2019 21:56

Might the love affair with Conviviality have been a factor ?

[konkel] 15/6/2019 15:49

If I owned 21% I'd want a Manager that wasn't bottom quartile!!

[spectoacc] 15/6/2019 15:25

If I had 21%, I'd want to remain fully involved.

[topvest] 15/6/2019 12:52

I suppose what we don't quite know is how active the two managers were, or did they delegate most to their team anyway? Matthew Oakeshott has an increased 21% holding, and so is by far the largest holder. I guess, we will see if there is any bad feeling when the AGM voting is reported.

[spectoacc] 15/6/2019 11:02

Aye - the property side seems good, but they seem to get away with some slightly dodgy share punts.

I wonder if the "consequence(s) of the review" was recognition of time limits/retirement ages etc? But agreed - incredibly opaque. If a falling out, the "..Very grateful.." would seem odd.

Either way, was an abrupt departure.

[topvest] 15/6/2019 08:18

Anyway, looks like the company will continue as is until the continuation vote in 2024 or to an eventual liquidation in 2027. I'm happy to stay invested, albeit I'm not 100% convinced about the OLIM equity side.

[topvest] 15/6/2019 08:10

Annual report out.

Its all a bit odd on the Angela Lascelles and Matthew Oakeshott front.

What actually does the Chairman mean with this comment?

"Another consequence of our review, and in line with current practice, was the retirement of Angela Lascelles and Matthew Oakeshott from the Board on 1 April 2019. Patrick Harrington and Louise Cleary have succeeded them as the lead portfolio managers, having worked closely with them in managing VIT's portfolio. We are very grateful for all that Angela and Matthew have contributed to VIT as the architects of its success. We know that they will continue to take a keen interest in the progress of VIT."

Not very clear whether they were pushed / there was an argument or they both just retired.

[zcaprd7] 18/4/2019 13:07

Aren't the year end results due soon?

[ygor705] 10/4/2019 12:19

An understandable concern Specto but the market cap is only £114m here and I suspect that the two big players plus family probably have 20%+. If somebody does come in then I think that they will either want to move the furniture around quite a bit or take total control with a view to winding the whole thing up. I'm not convinced that dribbling the shares out into the market will work for either ex-big player - would you want to light a bonfire under something that you have built up over 40years? I am surprised that some kind of deal was not done before the rather abrupt departures. Something may yet emerge at year end.

[spectoacc] 10/4/2019 11:35

I think the surprise is the suddenness. And if there's any bad feeling, where that leaves the large shareholding..

[ygor705] 10/4/2019 11:31

My understanding is that Angela Laschelles is in her late 70s and so it's unrealistic to have seen her in this particular job for very much longer.....even absent some poor investment performance. One of my more knowledgable friends recently described this stock as an 'interesting hold' which I thought summed up the situation pretty well. The redemption pull of the debentures will definitely exert increasing downward pressure on the discount to asset value as time goes by and Mathew Oakeshott et al still have a lot of skin in the game. Too early to do anything drastic in my view.

[johnwig] 08/4/2019 09:01

Who cares what your view is on anything, topvest? You never give any backing for your crazy predictions. And mostly you are completely wrong! Nobody takes any notice of you because that arrogance comes with stupidity.....

[spectoacc] 08/4/2019 07:05

Fingers crossed but I'm not optimistic - it's far from a "clean" mandate. (Though I do live in hope that the commercial property is somewhat undervalued).

[topvest] 07/4/2019 21:54

In my view there would be a long list of applicants to take over this mandate. A £100m+ trust with a 20 year+ dividend increase record and a solid property portfolio. A demerger of the property portfolio would clean up the trust to be a pure equity investment trust of size or you could leave the property portfolio as is and have a new manager for the equity side. Troy Asset Management would be a good fit in my view, but there are many options available. I would guess that there will be a significant change over the next 12 months.

[pvb] 07/4/2019 19:59

Whilst the property fund has performed better, it continues to be hampered by the two expensive debentures although the first of these is due for repayment in 2021.

Ah! The "poison pill". So, after 2021 perhaps the discount will close, or will they be taken over? Or both?

I dunno.

[spectoacc] 07/4/2019 19:29

I'm a long term holder of VIN but it feels unlikely any "star" manager would want it - the equity side can be shuffled at will, sure, but the property?

[topvest] 07/4/2019 19:17

Yes, unfortunately Boyle has left, but Pohl at Athelney Trust, seems to have a fairly decent investment strategy. I'm into Gresham House, but prefer them as an investment manager, to investing heavily in their strategies. I have a nil cost residual holding in LMS and did buy some Gresham House Strategic plc, but it's not done very well. Value has been a poor performing strategy of late. We seem to be invested in a few similar things! Perloff is a legend.

[strathroyal] 07/4/2019 14:11

topvest - hadn't come across Athelrey so had a quick look. Amused by the report writing, very much in the Andrew Perloff mode; interesting to me that GHE were the alternative fund managers as I am invested in LMS where they remain unproven as 29% of assets are in cash and little has been invested, indeed the major investment since their arrival remains LMS' stake in GHE.

[strathroyal] 07/4/2019 13:45

Surely VIN is not an independent investment trust but part of Albion Capital so why are we likely to see any other changes? As coolen and topvest point out, Angela Lascelles (the equity part of the fund) has had a poor recent record so no surprise that she has retired (or been pushed).

Whilst the property fund has performed better, it continues to be hampered by the two expensive debentures although the first of these is due for repayment in 2021.

[topvest] 07/4/2019 10:08

This is the second trust this year to be impacted like this. Athelney Trust has had a real battle for control between Boyle and Pohl. Always the risk I suppose when you have had a manager for 30 years and they are in their 70s.

[pvb] 06/4/2019 19:34

This from the 2018 Report & Accounts Chairman's statement:

"No performance fee is payable in respect of last year and we have agreed with our two Investment Managers that this arrangement has ended. We have also agreed a reduction in the investment management fee from 0.66% of the Company’s total assets less current liabilities to 0.6% of the Group’s gross assets."

Angela Lascelles is now given as one of three investment managers, not including Matthew Oakshott. It used to be Angela Lascelles along with Matthew Oakshott, who together originally founded OLIM - Oakshott & Lascelles Investment Management? But Oakshott is a joint manager - and chairman - of the property company.

OTOH, while I cannot find how old Angela Lascelles is, Matthew Oakshott is 72. They must both be expected to retire some time and wasn't VIT always regarded as their retirement fund?

[asmodeus] 06/4/2019 17:55

What's your view of topvest's subject matter now, Johnwig?

[topvest] 06/4/2019 16:33

I'm going to watch closely, and may add a few more. The potential upside is that they attract a 'star' manager. Its a pretty decent trust with an excellent record. With over £100m to manage they could take their pick of the talent out there!