Latest news with #fundmanager
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nasdaq Nordic resumes trading after glitch prompts order cancellations
MILAN (Reuters) -Trading on the Nasdaq Nordic platform resumed as normal on Wednesday, a day after a technical glitch disrupted equity order data and led to the cancellation of trades. The issue began at 1500 GMT on Tuesday and affected cash equities, ETPs and equity derivatives on Nasdaq Stockholm, Helsinki and Iceland, according to a statement on Wednesday. Nasdaq said it had cancelled all trades from the time of the incident and communicated the cancellations to affected members. On Wednesday the incident was marked as "resolved" on the bourse operator's website, with "all systems normal". A fund manager in Helsinki said trading appeared to be back to normal and back-office teams were handling trade cancellations. "No major fuss, but some extra work for them," he said. Nasdaq said the root cause of the problem had been identified and fixed.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nasdaq Nordic resumes trading after glitch prompts order cancellations
MILAN (Reuters) -Trading on the Nasdaq Nordic platform resumed as normal on Wednesday, a day after a technical glitch disrupted equity order data and led to the cancellation of trades. The issue began at 1500 GMT on Tuesday and affected cash equities, ETPs and equity derivatives on Nasdaq Stockholm, Helsinki and Iceland, according to a statement on Wednesday. Nasdaq said it had cancelled all trades from the time of the incident and communicated the cancellations to affected members. On Wednesday the incident was marked as "resolved" on the bourse operator's website, with "all systems normal". A fund manager in Helsinki said trading appeared to be back to normal and back-office teams were handling trade cancellations. "No major fuss, but some extra work for them," he said. Nasdaq said the root cause of the problem had been identified and fixed.
Reuters
17 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Nasdaq Nordic resumes trading after glitch prompts order cancellations
MILAN, July 30 (Reuters) - Trading on the Nasdaq Nordic platform resumed as normal on Wednesday, a day after a technical glitch disrupted equity order data and led to the cancellation of trades. The issue began at 1500 GMT on Tuesday and affected cash equities, ETPs and equity derivatives on Nasdaq Stockholm, Helsinki and Iceland, according to a statement on Wednesday. Nasdaq said it had cancelled all trades from the time of the incident and communicated the cancellations to affected members. On Wednesday the incident was marked as "resolved" on the bourse operator's website, with "all systems normal". A fund manager in Helsinki said trading appeared to be back to normal and back-office teams were handling trade cancellations. "No major fuss, but some extra work for them," he said. Nasdaq said the root cause of the problem had been identified and fixed.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
I'm a fund manager: Here's why I'm backing pizza in China - but not railway builders
Each month, we put a senior fund or investment manager to task with tough questions for our I'm a fund manager series to find out how they manage their own money. In this instalment, we spoke to Sree Agarwal, portfolio manager at the Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust. When we question fund managers, we want to know where they'd invest for the next 10 years - and what pitfalls to avoid. We also quiz them about the impact of Donald Trump and their greatest ever investing mistake. Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust is one of the longest-running investment trusts in Asian equities, having launched in 1995. It invests mainly in smaller Asian quoted companies with market capitalisations US$5,000m. It holds companies in Australasia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. 1. If you could invest in only one company for the next 10 years, what would it be? Scottish Oriental's largest holding, DPC Dash, is one of the businesses I would want to own steadfastly for the next decade. DPC Dash is the exclusive franchise operator of Domino's Pizza in China. The company is currently only in 55 cities in China, with around 1,000 outlets. This compares to Pizza Hut, which has more than 3,000 restaurants but has struggled with profitability as well as growth in China. After spending years optimising its store operating model and building a strong management team with the support of its principal Domino's, growth at DPC Dash has accelerated. It is adding 300 to 500 locations each year. It has the potential to be a significantly larger business with higher levels of profitability, as it gains operating leverage from its scale. The company's net cash balance sheet is well positioned to fund its growth. In the context of its growth potential it has a similar valuation as other Domino's franchisees in other markets, such as the UK and Australia, where the growth prospects are substantially lower. 2. Which sector do you think people should be most excited about? We are excited about the steady increase in consumption growth across Asia. As income per capita rises, it creates an aspirational middle class. The populations in many emerging Asian economies are reaching an inflection point, where an increasing share of their income is being spent on products and services such as cars, housing and travel. Well-run, market leading businesses in these categories can potentially benefit from years of strong growth. We spend our time trying to identify the management teams which are most likely to capture a dominant share of the growth of their respective profit pools. 3. What sector would you be avoiding? Scottish Oriental doesn't invest in infrastructure asset owners. Various Asian economies are witnessing sharp growth in infrastructure capital expenditure as they build roads, high-speed trains, bridges, and other similar projects. We don't like to invest in those companies who build and operate the assets. Their main customer is often the government, which leads to long payment cycles and low returns on capital employed. There are often questionable practices involved in winning the contracts to operate these assets as well. To benefit from the tailwinds of infrastructure investment, we prefer to invest in the owners of these assets, or the direct suppliers - cement, paint or wires and cables companies that benefit from the same growth in spending. They typically come with much higher returns on capital, as these products often capture strong brand value in the markets in which they operate. 4. Has Donald Trump caused you to make changes to your portfolio? No, not at all. What has been surprising is that some of our companies that you would have expected to be negatively impacted by Trump's tariffs have in fact turned out to be beneficiaries. We own a Chinese company; Haitian International. It is a manufacturer of plastic injection moulding machines, used by a wide variety of companies, ranging from electric vehicles to mobile phones. Currently, about 60-65 per cent of the business is based in China and 30-35 per cent is outside. Because of the tariffs, several of their customers are setting up capacity outside China, for which they need new plastic injection moulding machines. Their business outside China has thus been growing rapidly in recent months and overall growth continues to be very robust. It's trading on 9-10 times price to earnings with 4-4.5 per cent dividend yield. Overall, the portfolio is focused on owning businesses with consistent and predictable growth prospects. This naturally leads to a concentration of companies which are predicated upon domestic demand, rather than export-led external demand drivers. 5. Are you worried about the impact of low birth rates on Asia's biggest economies? Yes - in the long term. If you look at the growth of any economy, it's broadly a function of two things: population growth and productivity. As countries like Korea, Taiwan, and others experience very low birth rates, the population growth turns negative at some point and that can become a big challenge for business and government alike. Companies that are dependent on domestic demand in those economies will suffer and some will become increasingly export-oriented to make up for it. It is clear that companies are exporting into a more volatile world, whether it's because of the US tariffs or instability elsewhere. We like to ensure we are exposed to companies and countries which have both a strong domestic economy, and an economy driven by domestic demand. The portfolio's largest holdings, including Uni-President China, a domestic manufacturer of instant noodles and beverages; Philippine Seven Corporation, the dominant operator of convenience stores in the Philippines; Cloud Music, a leading music platform in China; and Niva Bupa Health Insurance, a leading health insurer in India are all driven by structurally growing domestic demand in their various countries. 6. Should investors focus on growth or value stocks? Growth itself does not create value. The ideal is the predictability and sustainability of consistent growth, with high returns on capital. We will only pay a fair price for a company - but it also needs to come with some ability for improvement, which will enable higher returns on capital. This combination should drive value creation in a business. 7. Why should investors choose your fund over a passive index fund? Investing in a passive index works for some people, but you will end up owning hundreds of companies. Scottish Oriental is a concentrated portfolio of 45 holdings that offers investors access to some of the most exciting investment opportunities in Asia. We don't own stocks because they're of a certain size, or they have a certain liquidity or cachet. We own them because we genuinely believe they have the ability to create disproportionate value over the next five years and beyond. One of Scottish Oriental's largest holdings is Philippine Seven Corporation, a the dominant operator of convenience stores in the Philippines 8. What's your greatest ever investment? I have personally been invested in Scottish Oriental for the last eight years. To mark Scottish Oriental's 30th anniversary earlier this year, we calculated that if you'd invested £1,000 in 1995, that would have grown to £22,390 in today's money - an uplift of 2,139 per cent. Scottish Oriental beat its benchmark, the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index by 1,846 per cent in that time and I have personally been a beneficiary of that compounding. We feel the trust reflects the kind of value creation that we're able to generate with our active investment philosophy, that has remained unchanged since the trust was established. 9. What's your greatest ever investing mistake? A few years ago, I invested in a hospital operator in India and there were few reasons why it was a big mistake, because I didn't follow my usual rules. Firstly, we don't usually invest in recently listed companies, because they don't have a well-established track record. Secondly, the person running the business was a doctor, and while he obviously knew medical processes and had noble intentions, he wasn't a businessman and he did not have capital allocation discipline. He expanded too fast using debt, the balance sheet became increasingly leveraged. When covid hit, fewer people came in for checks and footfall declined. The debt made the business unviable and it went into quite a vulnerable position. I eventually sold at a loss and the business was subsequently bought by private equity, who brought in the discipline that was needed to run the business well. It has since gone on to do very well, as it wasn't an issue with the underlying business model or anything wrong with the company. It was more to do with the person running it, the lack of discipline and capital location and the willingness to expand with leverage. Compare the best DIY investing platforms Investing online is simple, cheap and can be done from your computer, tablet or phone at a time and place that suits you. When it comes to choosing a DIY investing platform, stocks & shares Isa, self invested personal pension, or a general investing account, the range of options might seem overwhelming. > This is Money's full guide to the best investing platforms Every provider has a slightly different offering, charging more or less for trading or holding shares and giving access to a different range of stocks, funds and investment trusts. When weighing up the right one for you, it's important to to look at the service that it offers, along with administration charges and dealing fees, plus any other extra costs. We highlight the main players in the table below but would advise doing your own research and considering the points in our full guide to the best investment accounts. Charles Stanley Direct * 0.30% Min platform fee of £60, max of £600. £100 back in free trades per year £4 £10 Free for funds n/a More details Etoro* Free Stocks, investment trusts and ETFs. Limited Isa, no Sipp. Not available Free n/a n/a More details Fidelity * 0.35% on funds £7.50 per month up to £25,000 or 0.35% with regular savings plan. Free £7.50 Free funds £1.50 shares, trusts ETFs £1.50 More details Freetrade * Basic account free, Standard with Isa £5.99, Plus £11.99 Stocks, investment trusts and ETFs. No funds Free n/a n/a More details Hargreaves Lansdown * 0.45% Capped at £45 for shares, trusts, ETFs Free £11.95 Free Free More details Interactive Investor* £4.99 per month under £50k, £11.99 above, £10 extra for Sipp Free trade worth £3.99 per month (does not apply to £4.99 plan) £3.99 £3.99 Free £0.99 More details InvestEngine * Free Only ETFs. Managed service is 0.25% Not available Free Free Free More details iWeb Free £5 £5 n/a 2%, max £5 More details Trading 212* Free Stocks, investment trusts and ETFs. Not available Free n/a Free More details
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The investment trust row threatening your tax relief
The investment trust industry is something this nation should be proud of, offering investors exposure to a range of different assets in an easily tradable format. As listed companies with publicly traded shares, investors are never locked out of their capital, a feature not shared by the open-ended funds industry. Of course, they must pay a premium to the underlying investments if that trust is particularly desired, or sell at a discount if it's out of favour. This ability to buy and sell shares without reducing the capital available to the investment managers allows trusts to invest in less liquid assets, such as property and private equity. This limited share capital has other benefits, too. Trusts are able to utilise gearing, borrowing money to invest alongside investor capital and enhance returns (or losses). But perhaps one of the most important features of investment trusts is the independent board, a group of non-executive directors elected by shareholders to represent their interests. The appointed fund manager answers directly to the board, and in turn, the shareholders. However, shareholders are not a homogenous group. Nor are boards. This ability to dissent naturally breeds contention and herein lies the cause of another defining characteristic of the investment trust industry – the row. Over the past few months, this column has been keeping an eye on a developing situation at a comparatively small investment trust that will have important ramifications for shareholders. With an upcoming vote due on August 13 that will set the future path of this company, Questor believes shareholders should be made aware of the situation, but how investors vote is their prerogative. Shareholders should note the deadline to cast votes is likely to be earlier if they hold their shares via investment platforms. The Maven Renovar VCT, until recently the Amati Aim VCT, is in a tussle for control between the recently appointed investment manager and the previous one, with each side passionately committed to their cause. The upcoming vote will ask investors to make their choice on either firing the entire board and appointing the previous investment manager, or continuing down the current path and rejecting this reversion. Paul Jourdan, of Amati, is the previous manager leading the charge to be reinstated, and spent almost two decades running the vehicle. Over five years, as the board notes, he has underperformed, with a negative total return of -21pc, compared with the wider sector's -5pc loss. However, as his supporters point out, over 10 years, the manager is the second best performing in the VCT Aim Quoted sector. In a separate smaller company vehicle also managed by Jourdan, the manager has returned more than 900pc since 1999. The board argues that his recent underperformance is proof he's not able to do the job any more, while supporters note Aim has been in dire straits over the past few years. Since the board fired Jourdan, they have appointed their own investment manager – Maven Capital Partners – and implemented a new investment policy, which they describe as 'Aim Plus'. It is these two issues that have drawn particular attention from disgruntled shareholders. While technically there is no requirement for the board to seek approval for these changes, it would not have been amiss to call an extraordinary general meeting to ensure they were acting in the best interests of shareholders when altering two decades' of trust policy. Given this is an Aim VCT vehicle, many shareholders will be using the trust as part of their tax planning. There are extra considerations compared with other kinds of investment trusts, as some will be investing to benefit from the various tax reliefs offered by investing in Aim and VCTs. Many investors will have to sacrifice these reliefs if they sell out of the vehicle early, meaning exiting the trust if they disagree with the changes isn't entirely straightforward. 'Aim Plus' will extend the remit of the trust to invest in unquoted companies, a policy that has already clearly divided shareholders. In fact, investors have already made clear their displeasure. At the June annual general meeting, shareholders voted against the new investment policy and the re-appointment of every director, effectively firing the board. But a trust cannot be without a board, so the team have been retained until they are either reappointed in this upcoming vote, or a new board is found. While above the historic average, less than 15pc of share capital was voted at the AGM. For the interests of all shareholders, this scenario must not drag out any longer. Whether investors wish to continue with the Maven board and the Aim Plus strategy, or to revert to the Amati management and the original investment strategy is for them to decide. But on August 13 when the vote arrives, this column hopes a decisive decision from a large turnout draws this argument to a close.
