TwentyFour
Income Fund Limited
Final
results for the year ended 31 March
2024
TwentyFour
Income Fund Limited (“TFIF” or “the Company”), the FTSE 250-listed
investment Company that invests in less liquid asset-backed
securities (“ABS”) in the UK and Europe, is pleased to announce its Final
Results for the year ended 31 March
2024.
Financial
highlights
-
Total NAV return per
ordinary share of 18.1% (2023: -3.74%)
-
NAV per ordinary share
increased 7.7% to 108.97p (2023: 100.97p)
-
Record dividend payment of
9.96p per ordinary share, above the dividend policy of 8p per
annum
-
Total net assets rose
12.2% to £813.54 million (2023: £724.98 million)
-
The portfolio returned
16.57% to 31 March 2024 vs (1.17%) to
31 March 2023
-
Share price discount to
NAV at 3.67% at the end of the year; a comparatively small discount
compared to the overall sector where discounts widened to historic
levels
Portfolio
highlights
-
European ABS has performed
strongly across the board, supported by:
-
Stronger than expected
macroeconomic conditions
-
Higher for longer interest
rates
-
Improving risk sentiment
as investors assumed a soft-landing for Europe and the UK
-
Mezzanine Residential
Mortgage-backed Securities (“RMBS”) and Collateralised Loan
Obligations (“CLOs”) were the strongest performers whilst
Commercial Mortgage-backed Securities (“CMBS”) lagged spread
performance.
-
Activity in the primary
markets has created opportunities to further diversify and rotate
the portfolio e.g. UK and European banks have been tapping the ABS
sector for both funding and capital transactions following the end
of cheap funding.
-
TwentyFour Asset
Management LLP (“the Portfolio Manager”) continues to favour
higher-yielding, floating rate ABS, particularly secured assets
(RMBS and CLOs) and has increased allocations to the Significant
Risk Transfer (“SRT”) market as a source of both yield and
diversification.
-
As a result, the portfolio
had a book yield of 11.7% and a mark-to-market yield of 12.8% at
the end of the period.
-
The Portfolio Manager
continues to prefer bonds with short spread durations, liquidity
and low levels of gearing, reflecting concerns over market
volatility and geopolitical risk.
-
The level of leverage the
Company has taken has dropped over the period to -1.6% from
-5.4%,
Outlook
Market
expectations for rates to remain higher for longer should continue
to support strong demand for ABS and performance over the medium
term.
Notwithstanding
the benefit of higher rates on the portfolio, the Company has
delivered dividends within or above the target range of 6p to 9p
per share since launch and is confident that it should be able to
maintain that record even if, as anticipated, rates start to fall
over the next 12 months.
The
Portfolio Manager continues to see strong demand and supply of ABS,
particularly in European CLOs.
Over the
longer term, geopolitical risk remains a driver of market
volatility and, as such, the Portfolio Manager sees value in
retaining flexibility within the portfolio and maintaining elevated
levels of liquidity.
Commenting
on the results, Bronwyn Curtis OBE, Chair,
said: “The
strategy of investing in higher yielding floating rate ABS in a
higher interest rate environment has enabled the Company to produce
a record dividend for the year for investors, equivalent to a 10%
yield on the share price, alongside a strong return on the
portfolio.
“Looking
forward, the Board is supportive of the Portfolio Manager’s focus
on Western European secured assets with short maturities, keeping
one eye on market volatility whilst also offering the potential to
benefit from potential market dislocations.”
Aza Teeuwen, Portfolio Manager, TFIF said:
“European
ABS performed well over the period. Spreads had started the year
relatively wide as the market was still recovering from the market
impact of the Truss mini-budget and the resulting economic
slowdown. However, the sector’s fundamental performance proved
better than expected as borrowers coped well with the higher rate
environment, helped by solid wage growth and a strong labour
market, resulting in spreads narrowing and a strong performance for
the year.
“Going
forward, we will focus on secured collateral such as mortgages,
senior secured corporate loans and auto loans from Western European
countries, where governments have a proven track record in
supporting consumers and corporates during recessions.
“We expect
current strong supply-demand to continue to drive performance over
the medium term, whilst longer term we will continue to position
the portfolio flexibly, given heightened geopolitical
risk.”
For
further information please contact:
TwentyFour
Income Fund Limited Tel:
+44 (0)20
7260 1000
Deutsche
Numis Tel:
+44 (0)20 7015 8900
Hugh Jonathan / Matt
Goss
JPES
Partners Tel:
+44 (0)20 7520 7620
Miles Donohoe / Charlotte
Walsh
TWENTYFOUR
INCOME FUND LIMITED
ANNUAL
REPORT AND AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For
the year ended 31 March
2024
LEI:
549300CCEV00IH2SU369
(Classified
Regulated Information, under DTR 6 Annex 1 section 1.1)
The
Company has today, in accordance with DTR 6.3.5, released its
Report and Audited Financial Statements for the year ended
31 March 2024. The Report will
shortly be available via the Company's Portfolio Manager’s website
https://www.twentyfouram.com/view/GG00B90J5Z95/twentyfour-income-fund
for professional/institutional investors and
twentyfourincomefund.com for retail investors, and will shortly be
available for inspection online at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM
website.
SUMMARY
INFORMATION
The
Company
TwentyFour
Income Fund Limited (the “Company” and “TFIF”) is a closed-ended
investment company whose shares (“Ordinary
Shares”, being the sole share class) have a
Premium Listing on the Official List of the UK Listing
Authority. The
Company was incorporated in Guernsey on 11 January
2013. The
Company has been included in the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 250
Index since 16 September
2022.
Investment
Objective
and Investment Policy
The
Company’s investment objective is to generate attractive risk
adjusted returns principally through income distributions. The
Company’s investment policy is to invest in a diversified portfolio
(“Portfolio”) of predominantly UK and European Asset-Backed
Securities (“ABS”). The Company maintains a Portfolio largely
diversified by the issuer, it being anticipated that the Portfolio
will comprise at least 50 ABS at all times.
Target
Returns*
The
Company has a target annual net total NAV return of between 6% and
9% per annum, which, effective from the dividend declared in
respect of the 3-month period ended 31 March
2023, has been an annual target each financial year of 8% of
the Issue Price (the equivalent of 8
pence per year, per Ordinary Share). Prior to that, the
annual target dividend was 7% of the Issue Price. Total NAV return
per Ordinary Share is calculated by adding the increase or decrease
in NAV per Ordinary Share to the total dividends paid per share
during the year and dividing by the NAV per Ordinary Share at the
start of the year.
The
increases in the annual target dividend have been intended to
increase the rate of return to investors following increases in
global interest base rates.
Ongoing
Charges
Ongoing
charges for the year ended 31 March
2024 have been calculated in accordance with the Association
of Investment Companies (the “AIC”) recommended methodology. The
ongoing charges for the year ended 31 March
2024 were 0.95% (31 March
2023: 0.97%).
Discount
As at
5 July 2024, the discount to NAV had
moved to 3.73%. The estimated NAV per Ordinary Share and mid-market
share price stood at 109.90p and 105.80p, respectively.
Published
NAV
Northern
Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited (the “Administrator”) is
responsible for calculating the NAV per Ordinary Share of the
Company. The unaudited NAV per Ordinary Share will be calculated as
at the close of business on the last business day of every week and
the last business day of every month by the Administrator and will
be announced by a Regulatory News Service the following business
day. The basis for determining the Net Asset Value per Ordinary
Share can be found in note 6.
* The Issue
Price being £1.00. This is an annual target only and not a profit
forecast. There can be no assurance that this target will be met or
that the Company shall continue to pay any dividends at all. This
annual target return should not be taken as an indication of the
Company’s expected or actual current or future results. The
Company’s actual return will depend upon a number of factors,
including the number of Ordinary Shares outstanding and the
Company’s total expense ratio, as defined by the AIC’s ongoing
charges methodology. Potential investors should decide for
themselves whether or not any potential return is reasonable and
achievable in deciding whether to invest in or retain or increase
their investment in the Company. Further details on the Company’s
financial risk management can be found in note 18.
Financial
Highlights
NAV
per Ordinary Share
|
|
As at 31
March 2024
|
As at 31
March 2023
|
108.79p
|
100.97p
|
|
|
Share
price
|
|
As at 31
March 2024
|
As at 31
March 2023
|
104.80p
|
100.50p
|
|
|
Total
net assets
|
|
As at 31
March 2024
|
As at 31
March 2023
|
£813.54
million
|
£724.98
million
|
|
|
Total
NAV return per Ordinary Share
|
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2024
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2023
|
18.10%
|
(3.74%)
|
|
|
Dividends
declared per Ordinary Share
|
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2024
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2023
|
9.96p
|
9.46p
|
|
|
Dividends
paid per Ordinary Share
|
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2024
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2023
|
10.46p
|
7.27p
|
|
|
Ordinary
Shares in issue
|
|
As at 31
March 2024
|
As at 31
March 2023
|
747.84
million
|
718.04
million
|
|
|
Portfolio
performance
|
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2024
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2023
|
16.57%
|
(1.17%)
|
|
|
Repurchase
agreement borrowing
|
|
As at 31
March 2024
|
As at 31
March 2023
|
1.73%
|
6.74%
|
|
|
Number
of positions in the portfolio
|
|
As at 31
March 2024
|
As at 31
March 2023
|
204
|
183
|
|
|
Average
(discount)/premium
|
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2024
|
For the
year ended 31 March 2023
|
(1.56%)
|
0.55%
|
CHAIR’S
STATEMENT
for the
year ended 31 March 2024
Bronwyn
Curtis OBE
In my
capacity as Chair of the Board of Directors of TwentyFour Income
Fund Limited, I am pleased to present my report on the Company’s
progress for the year ended 31 March
2024 (the “reporting period”).
Investment
Performance
In
April 2024, the Company announced the
fourth quarter dividend for the financial year ended 31 March 2024 at 3.96p per Ordinary Share. This
made the overall dividend declared with respect to the reporting
period 9.96 pence per Ordinary Share,
the highest annual dividend that the Company has paid since its
inception in 2013. The strategy of investing in higher yielding
floating rate asset-backed securities in a higher interest rate
environment has enabled the Company to deliver these attractive
dividends, as substantially all excess investment income is paid
out each year.
During the
reporting period, the NAV per Ordinary Share saw an increase from
100.97p to 108.79p, a rise of 7.74%. The NAV per Ordinary Share
total return was 18.10%. The Company traded at a narrow discount to
NAV for most of the year, with a discount of 0.47% at the beginning
of the reporting period and a discount of 3.67% at the end of
March 2024.
The
Company issued 29.8 million new Ordinary Shares between
April 2023 and the end of
June 2023. No shares were bought back
during the reporting period.
The
Company’s portfolio has not had any defaults in its investments
since it was launched in 2013 and the portfolio did not see any
material interest deferrals or defaults during this reporting
period.
Market
Overview
Financial
markets have been calmer over the past year following the turmoil
created by the US regional banking crisis, the energy crisis, and
the UK mini budget in 2022/23. The ongoing war in Ukraine and turmoil in the Middle East have kept investors on alert, but
neither has had a large impact on European credit spread
volatility. European credit spreads were relatively wide at the
beginning of the reporting period but the improved sentiment over
the second half of 2023 led to spread tightening, and a healthy
level of primary supply in the European ABS market over the
period.
The
reporting period was once again dominated by the activity of
central banks. As the US Federal Reserve (“Fed”) raising the
Federal Fund Rate to 5.25-5.5% in 2023– the market was focused on
when the rate cutting cycle would begin and then how quickly it
would continue. Inflation demonstrated encouraging trends at the
end of 2023, leading to the markets pricing in over six rate cuts
for 2024. However, with inflation proving to be stickier and US
growth remaining robust for the first few months of 2024, the
number of cuts expected by the markets for 2024 more than halved.
The combination of this “higher for longer” approach by the central
banks, and the tightening in credit spreads in the asset classes
which the Company invests in, has had a positive impact on the
Company’s income, due to the floating rate nature of the Company’s
assets.
Elsewhere,
whilst a similar inflationary pattern was seen across the eurozone
and the UK, growth numbers were much weaker in these geographies.
As a result, more cuts have been priced in by the markets, for the
European Central Bank (“ECB”) and the Bank of England (“BoE”) now than for the Fed, with the
ECB kicking off the first rate cut of 25 basis points on
6 June 2024.
The
activity in the primary markets has also created opportunities for
the Portfolio Manager to diversify and rotate the portfolio. UK
high street banks have been tapping the ABS sector for both funding
and capital transactions following the end of cheap central bank
funding, and significant volatility in the Additional Tier 1 bonds
(“AT1”) market (not least as a result of the Credit Suisse collapse
in 2023 and the decision by the Swiss regulator FINMA to instruct
the write down of its AT1 issuances). We have seen the return of
so-called Significant Risk Transfer (“SRT”) securitisations and as
a result the Portfolio Manager has been able to further diversify
the portfolio and invest in securities which it considers to be
best quality bank assets at attractive yields.
In the
last quarter of 2023, markets were betting on recessions in
developed economies and began anticipating the first key rate cuts.
This proved to be premature. With UK and European unemployment only
increasing modestly and house prices stabilising, economic
performance has been stronger than expected. As core inflation has
proved sticky and wage growth has helped consumers deal with the
higher cost of living, only one rate cut has been seen to
date.
Environmental,
Social and Governance Approach
The Board
recognises the importance of Environmental, Social and Governance
(“ESG”) factors in both investment management and in wider society,
and has appointed the Portfolio Manager to advise it in relation to
all aspects relevant to the Company’s portfolio. Throughout the
year, the Portfolio Manager has continued to work extensively on
engaging with issuers to improve disclosures, and have also
extended their proprietary ESG scoring model to cover ABS-specific
metrics, meaning ESG data is factored in to every level of the
investment process. The Board and the Portfolio Manager believe
this proprietary ESG work is unique in the European ABS
space.
Dividend
The
Company aims to distribute all its investment income to ordinary
shareholders and is currently targeting quarterly payments
equivalent to an annual dividend of at least 8p per year. The
fourth quarter dividend is used to distribute any residual income
generated in the year. This year, the fourth quarter dividend was
3.96p per Ordinary Share, with the dividends paid by the Company
with respect to the reporting period totalling 9.96p per Ordinary
Share.
The
increase in dividends for the financial year ended 31 March 2024 was driven by two main factors: the
increase in the Bank of England
base rate along with repayment amortisations within the portfolio
and share issuance by the Company enabling investment at prevailing
higher yields, which were accretive to the income of the
Company.
Premium/Discount
and Share Capital Management
The wider
investment company market saw trading at historically wide
discounts across the board, with the Company remaining one of the
best performers. Shares traded at close to NAV for the first half
of the period to the end of September
2023, with the Company issuing 29.8 million new shares at a
premium to NAV between April 2023 and
the end of June 2023. The Company has
not bought back any shares in this reporting period.
Discounts
widened further across the investment company market in the second
half of the reporting period. The Company traded at an average
discount of 1.56% for the whole reporting period and, at the end of
March 2024, it was trading at a
discount of 3.67%, a position significantly closer to NAV than the
vast majority of the wider investment company market.
Annual
General Meeting
The
Company’s 2024 Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) will be held on
12 September 2024 at the offices of
Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services
(Guernsey) Limited, Trafalgar
Court, Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel
Islands at 9am.
Board
Composition
Richard Burwood retired as Non-Executive Director of the
Company and Chair of the Management Engagement Committee at the
Annual General Meeting on 14 September
2023 and was succeeded by Paul Le
Page, as Chair of the Management Engagement
Committee.
On behalf
of the Board, I would like to thank Richard for all his hard work
and valued contribution to the Board and to the Company during his
tenure.
Outlook
With
inflation continuing to prevail and relatively high levels of wage
growth remaining, the market expectation remains that base rates
will be likely to remain higher for longer, with a slower rate cut
trajectory priced in.
The
Company has always delivered dividends within the target range of
6p to 9p per share, even when key UK interest rates were close to
zero. We expect that the dividend target range should be maintained
even if, as anticipated, key rates do fall in the next reporting
period ending 31 March
2025.
Outside
the political drama, demand for floating rate bonds has increased
significantly over recent months, which is expected to persist, and
this positive technical, absent of geopolitical surprises, should
keep ABS credit spreads range bound.
The
ongoing war in Ukraine and
tensions in the Middle East remain
catalysts of risk sentiment in all financial markets, meaning
spread volatility is likely to remain. As spreads have rallied to
levels last seen prior to the Russian invasion, the Board is
supportive of the Portfolio Manager’s focus on Western European
secured assets: mortgages, auto loans and Collateralised Loan
Obligations (“CLOs”) with short maturities. The Board believes that
this, coupled with a very low level of gearing, should insulate the
Company’s portfolio from volatility, whilst offering the potential
to benefit from possible market dislocations.
While a
moderate deterioration of fundamental performance (such as
unemployment, house prices, corporate earnings and defaults) is
expected by the Portfolio Manager, the Board does not expect this
to materially impact performance of the investment portfolio. The
Portfolio Manager expects to see increasing arrears levels in
consumer credit, but not to levels seen during the Global Financial
Crisis and remain confident based on strong stress test
results.
Increasing
demand for the asset class and higher for longer rates are expected
to remain drivers of performance in the medium term. Throughout the
reporting period, UK pension funds have slowly returned to the
European ABS market, which has delivered the liquidity that pension
funds needed. The Portfolio Manager expects that demand for ABS is
likely to increase significantly once UK pension funds have rebuilt
their liquidity profile, which should have a positive impact on the
performance of the Company.
Bronwyn
Curtis OBE
Chair
10 July 2024
PORTFOLIO
MANAGER’S REPORT
for the
year ended 31 March 2024
TwentyFour
Asset Management LLP
In our
capacity as Portfolio Manager to the TwentyFour Income Fund
Limited, we are pleased to present our report on the Company’s
progress for the year ended 31 March
2024.
Market
Environment
During the
year, the macroeconomic picture began to stabilise after the
turbulence experienced globally during the Covid-19 pandemic and
its aftermath. This was illustrated best by the rapid climb and
then descent of inflation across all major economies, which
understandably challenged most markets but fixed income markets
even more so given the rise in interest rates as central banks
moved to cut off a damaging spiral. US Consumer Price Index (“CPI”)
dropped from 6.0% to 3.2% during the year, with eurozone numbers
following a similar path to 2.7%. With inflation still above
target, central bank forecasts see a normalisation to the 2%
long-term objective during 2024 and at target in 2025.
Geopolitics
remained a feature of the year; the conflict in Ukraine saw both Western and Russian financial
resolve being tested, whilst several areas of significant unrest in
the Middle East have not impacted
the ABS markets materially, but have the propensity to feed into
commodity prices with the resulting impact on inflation. There are
also several signs that cracks in the Chinese economy following
excessive debt accumulation may create a slowdown, with defaults in
the property sector noteworthy given the importance of this sector
to the Chinese economy. Other idiosyncratic events like the hurried
takeover of Credit Suisse by rival UBS and the US regional bank
crisis gave investors plenty of reason to exercise caution in the
early part of the year.
One area
of stability across the Group of Seven (“G7”) nations has been
labour markets, where job availability after the pandemic has
remained a feature and led to strong, potentially excessive wage
growth that has to a certain extent countered the impacts of
inflation on households. Unemployment in the UK stands at 3.9%
whilst the eurozone remains at lows of 6.4%. Consumer confidence
began to rise in 2023 from a fragile base, consumers began to
engage in the property market as mortgage rates came off peaks, and
car sales showed tentative growth. Corporate earnings have been
generally healthy and default rates have remained low. Commercial
real estate was the obvious outlier as combination of headwinds
including higher borrowing costs and tighter financial conditions,
rising vacancies in office assets and uncertainty surrounding
property valuations played a role in putting pressure on the
sector.
ABS
performance remained strong, with ratings and underlying asset
performance showing resilience as it stayed well within investor
tolerance levels. Germany was a
surprise laggard as consumers have felt more dislocation from
slowing trade, with some deals weakening to arrears levels worse
than comparable Spanish or Italian deals, for example. Far from
being a concern, it exemplified how strong other countries have
remained on a relative basis. Closer to home, auto ABS in the UK
have shown similar stability although cost of living pressure has
filtered through the lower quality borrower profile with near-prime
auto ABS unsurprisingly showing sign of deterioration.
With
markets reacting to a stronger than expected macroeconomic
backdrop, risk sentiment has improved and a positive technical
demand has supported credit spread tightening across fixed income,
including ABS. Liquidity conditions have also been strong with
healthy primary issuance and growing amounts of high yield and loan
refinancings having taken place, which has reduced concerns around
debt maturities. Rates, however, have remained volatile as
investors were kept guessing as to when the Fed would cut rates. Up
to six 25 basis points cuts were priced in for 2024 at one point of
rate hike expectations, with around three currently expected. With
growing uncertainty as to exactly when the Fed, the BoE and ECB
will need to make cuts, higher for longer rates have benefitted
floating rate investments like ABS throughout the year.
Performance
European
ABS performance over the year has been very strong across the
board. Spreads started the year relatively wide as the market was
still recovering from the UK liability-driven investment (“LDI”)
crisis and as the market was generally expecting an economic
slowdown. While the BoE continued to increase base rates, ABS
investors benefitted from increasing coupon income, which also
started to draw new income-seeking investors to the ABS market.
Fundamental performance has remained better than expected as the
majority of underlying borrowers are currently coping well with the
higher rate environment, helped by solid wage growth and a strong
labour market. Spreads remained relatively range bound during the
first half of 2023, but risk sentiment improved consistently from
the summer as investors became more comfortable with a soft-landing
as a base case for the European and UK economies. Residential
Mortgage-Backed Securities (“RMBS”) at a mezzanine level and
especially CLOs were the main beneficiaries of spread tightening,
resulting in very strong performance for the year. BB-rated CLOs
tightened by around 200bps to Euribor + 6.7% making Mezzanine CLOs
the best performing asset class for the Company. An emerging trend
over the year has been the increased issuance of SRT deals. This
boost has come in part as a result of the turmoil that hit the AT1
market in March 2023 after the
collapse of Credit Suisse bank. SRT transactions are used by banks
as a tool to reduce their risk weighted assets. Having less access
to a full range of capital instruments than before and facing
higher funding costs and higher liquidity requirements meant that
banks are looking at other alternatives and the SRT market can help
address these issues. We see the growing SRT market, as a positive
source of further diversification and income for the Company and
have been increasing the exposure to this sub-sector of the ABS
market. The one asset class that lagged spread performance has been
the Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (“CMBS”) market as there
remains uncertainty around Commercial Real Estate
valuations.
The NAV
per Ordinary Share total return was 18.10%.
Portfolio
Events
We have
both added and reduced risk to the portfolio on many occasions over
the reporting period, mostly by buying and selling longer dated
BB-rated CLOs. Due to strong demand, when spreads tightened quickly
in BB CLOs, we booked profits for the Company’s portfolio and
replaced these with primary CLOs at wider spreads and mezzanine ABS
in primary.
The
portfolio allocation approach has remained broadly unchanged over
the course of the year as we favoured secured assets (RMBS and
CLOs) over unsecured assets from Western European lenders. The
portfolio saw increased allocations to SRT trades over the year, a
sector that we believe provides both diversification and an
attractive yield to the Company.
Although
collateral performance has weathered base rate rises well, there
have been pockets of deterioration in pre global financial crisis
RMBS and office CMBS. We have reduced CMBS exposure to 3.3% from
4.8% in the previous year, also reducing non-conforming RMBS
exposure to 14.5% from 21.7%. The level of leverage the Company has
taken has dropped to -1.6% from -5.4%, however, we remain flexible
to increase allocations if opportunities arise. The yield ended the
year at 12.78%, and the weighted average rating of the Company’s
portfolio has remained stable at B.
Portfolio
Strategy
Our focus
during the reporting period, has been and will continue to be on
investing in higher-yielding floating-rate ABS, which, in an
environment of higher-for-longer rates, should continue to deliver
ongoing, attractive levels of income, enabling the Company to
continue to deliver on its annual target dividend. At the end of
the reporting period, the portfolio had a very healthy book yield
of 11.7% and a mark-to-market yield of 12.8%. Spreads have
generally tightened through this year and we have crystallised
profits on various older investments in favour of primary
supply.
As we
believe that fundamental performance will likely deteriorate (not
least due to increasing consumer arrears and corporate defaults),
and with the elevated geopolitical risk (further escalations of the
conflicts in Ukraine and the
Middle East, along with the UK,
French and US elections impacting market volatility), we favour
secured collateral (mortgages, senior secured corporate loans, auto
loans, etc) from Western European countries, where governments have
a proven track record in supporting consumers and corporates during
recessions. As mitigation from the effects of market volatility, we
prefer bonds with relatively short spread durations and value the
flexibility of having more liquidity and low levels of gearing. The
liquidity which the Company has available could be deployed in the
event of elevated market stress to take advantage of any investment
opportunities. We remain cautious about CMBS and unsecured consumer
risk. With the increasing number of banks issuing highly regarded
SRT transactions, thereby releasing regulatory capital, we expect
that our allocation in SRT will grow in preference to making
further investments in junior or equity RMBS.
Environmental,
Social and Governance
ESG
disclosures in the ABS market have continued to evolve over the
past 12 months, with the updates to the EU Sustainable Finance
Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”) and Task Force on Climate-Related
Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) being the main drivers in improved
disclosures as investors require data such as emissions or ESG
indicators to comply with reporting requirements.
We have
continued to engage with lenders on Scope 3 financed emissions in
RMBS and ABS deals. Over the past 12 months, the market has
experienced a surge in Green RMBS issuance and though volumes are
still far from the 2021 record high, we have supported Green
transactions and expect to see higher volumes for the remainder of
2024.
Within
CLOs, investor demand for ESG integration has increased
significantly over the past year resulting in most CLO managers
increasing exclusions at portfolio level and within disclosures. We
have also worked on several initiatives on the CLO side through the
European Leveraged Finance Association (“ELFA”), with the latest
initiative being a paper outlining guidance for CLO managers on
carbon and climate disclosures.
We have
focused particularly on new CLO deals for the Company with positive
and negative screening managed by CLO managers with strong ESG
credentials.
Market
Outlook
In late
May 2024, the latest UK inflation
data was released, showing a fall nearly to the 2% target. It was
swiftly followed by the announcement of a general election called
for 4 July 2024. After a somewhat
subdued campaign, the result followed polls with a decisive victory
for the Labour Party ("Labour") led by Keir
Starmer.
With the
current macro environment and the fact that Labour is bound by the
same fiscal rules as the previous government to limit borrowing and
debt, we expect a relatively limited impact on inflation and the
subsequent decision due from the BoE of when to cut rates, but we
continue to remain sensitive to the impact of the new government’s
policies and impacts on the market.
In the US,
the Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump, was found guilty of 34 felony
counts, whilst his opponent President Biden fumbled in debates and
appearances, however, the November
2024 election result still remains a close call. In
France, President Macron called
emergency parliamentary elections after the European elections
showed right-wing populists making large gains across the bloc,
leading him to dissolve the National Assembly and gamble on
national polls. The elections duly showed a significant swing to
the right, and an indication of a hung parliament, leading to
French government bond yields hitting 12-year highs.
With
spreads having performed very well during 2024, despite elevated
geopolitical risks posing a threat, we expect the strong
demand/supply technical to persist in the medium term.
We
continue to see the best value in primary transactions and
short-dated BBB and BB-rated RMBS and CLOs, and expect the pace of
Euro CLO issuance to persist, with a healthy ABS pipeline for the
remainder of 2024. With more older CLOs reaching the end of their
reinvestment periods and a healthy leverage loan market, we expect
to see an increased amount of older CLOs being called as well as a
further pick up in refinancings of the 2022 and 2023 vintages. We
will look to reinvest this increasing amount of portfolio
amortisations in primary supply.
We
anticipate resistance to short-term spreads tightening from here,
however, we do see a scenario where the excess demand, particularly
in ABS markets, outweighs this effect. Primary supply has been met
with very strong demand so far in 2024 and although total volumes
are strong, we had expected to see more RMBS deals come to market,
but recognise that specialist mortgage lending volumes have likely
been suppressed during 2023. In the first half of 2024, €71 billion
of primary issuance came to market, which is well above the typical
€50-60 billion that was printed in the recent 5 years, and has
resulted in an increase of the European ABS market size to €520
billion. We anticipate that the current strong demand/supply
technical will remain in place as a driver of medium-term
performance. In the longer term, we continue to see geopolitical
risk as the key risk for market volatility and value flexibility in
positioning and therefore expect to keep elevated levels of
liquidity, especially as European ABS continues to benefit from
higher rates for longer.
TwentyFour
Asset Management LLP
10 July 2024
TOP
TWENTY HOLDINGS
as at
31 March 2024
Security
|
Nominal/
Shares
|
|
Asset-Backed Security
Sector*
|
Fair Value
£
|
|
Percentage of
Net Asset
Value
|
UK
MORTGAGES
CORPORATE
F
'KPF4
A'
0.00%
30/11/2070
|
23,163,656
|
|
RMBS
|
21,718,430
|
|
2.67
|
UK
MORTGAGES
CORP
FDG DAC
KPF1
A
0.0%
31/07/2070
|
18,574,611
|
|
RMBS
|
21,057,591
|
|
2.60
|
UK
MORTGAGES
CORP
FDG
DAC
KPF2
A
0.0%
31/07/2070
|
21,498,181
|
|
RMBS
|
19,291,586
|
|
2.37
|
TULPENHUIS
0.0%
18/04/2051
|
19,326,989
|
|
RMBS
|
17,849,173
|
|
2.19
|
SYON
SECURITIES
19-1
B
CLO
FLT
19/07/2026
|
16,591,590
|
|
RMBS
|
16,258,646
|
|
2.00
|
UKDAC
MTGE
'KPF3
A'
0.0%
31/7/2070
|
17,926,403
|
|
RMBS
|
15,134,868
|
|
1.86
|
CHARLES
ST
CONDUIT
ABS
2
LIMITED
CABS
2-
CL
B
MEZZ
|
15,000,000
|
|
RMBS
|
14,748,000
|
|
1.81
|
EQTY.
RELEASE
FNDG.
NO
5
'5
B'
FRN
14/07/2050
|
16,500,000
|
|
RMBS
|
14,656,754
|
|
1.80
|
VSK
HOLDINGS
LTD
VAR
31/7/2061
|
2,058,000
|
|
RMBS
|
14,479,608
|
|
1.78
|
DEUTSCHE
BANK
AG/CRAFT
202
'1X
CLN'
FRN
21/11/2033
|
18,000,000
|
|
SRT
|
14,248,960
|
|
1.75
|
CHARLES
STREET
CONDUIT
FRN
0.00%
12/04/2067
|
14,000,000
|
|
RMBS
|
13,613,600
|
|
1.67
|
CASTELL
2022-1
PLC '1
D'
FRN
25/4/2054
|
13,299,000
|
|
RMBS
|
13,436,483
|
|
1.65
|
VSK
HLDGS.
'1
C4-1'
VAR
01/10/2058
|
1,587,000
|
|
RMBS
|
11,011,533
|
|
1.36
|
RRME
8X
D
'8X
D'
FRN
15/10/2036
|
13,000,000
|
|
CLO
|
10,977,246
|
|
1.35
|
HABANERO
LTD
'6W
B'
VAR
5/4/2024
|
10,795,000
|
|
RMBS
|
10,795,000
|
|
1.33
|
SYON
SECS.
2020-2
DAC
'2
B'
FRN
17/12/2027
|
9,945,888
|
|
RMBS
|
10,032,885
|
|
1.23
|
SANTANDER
CONSUMER
FINANCE
SA
SER
23-1
CL
B
FLTG
R
|
83,986,289
|
|
SRT
|
9,626,337
|
|
1.18
|
HOPS
HILL
NO2
PLC
'2
E'
FRN
27/11/2054
|
9,262,000
|
|
RMBS
|
8,904,380
|
|
1.10
|
UK
MORTGAGES
CORP
FDG DAC
CHL1
A
0.0%
31/07/2070
|
7,165,395
|
|
RMBS
|
8,151,934
|
|
1.00
|
SYON
SECURITIES
2020-2
DESIGNATED
A
FLTG
17/12/202
|
7,945,495
|
|
RMBS
|
7,971,691
|
|
0.98
|
|
|
|
|
273,964,705
|
|
33.68
|
The full
portfolio listing as at 31 March 2024
can be obtained from the Administrator on request.
*
Definition of Terms
“CLO” –
Collateralised Loan Obligations
“RMBS”-
Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities
“SRT” –
Significant Risk Transfer
BOARD
MEMBERS
Biographical
details of
the Directors are as follows:
Bronwyn
Curtis OBE - (Non-Executive Director and Chair)
Ms Curtis
is a resident of the United
Kingdom, an experienced Chair, Non-Executive Director and
Senior Executive across banking, media, commodities and consulting,
with global or European wide leadership responsibilities for 20
years at HSBC Bank plc, Bloomberg LP, Nomura International and
Deutsche Bank Group. She is presently a Non-Executive member of the
Oversight Board at the UK Office for Budget Responsibility and
Non-Executive Director at Pershing Square Holdings and BH Macro
Limited. She is also a regular commentator in the media on markets
and economics. Ms Curtis was appointed to the Board on 12 July 2022 and was appointed Chair on
14 October 2022.
Joanne Fintzen -
(Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent
Director)
Ms Fintzen
is a resident of the United
Kingdom, with extensive experience of the finance sector and
the investment industry. She trained as a Solicitor with
Clifford Chance and worked in the
Banking, Fixed Income and Securitisation areas. She joined
Citigroup in 1999 providing legal coverage to an asset management
division. She was subsequently appointed as European General
Counsel for Citigroup Alternative Investments where she was
responsible for the provision of legal and structuring support for
vehicles which invested $100bn in
Asset-Backed Securities as well as hedge funds investing in various
different strategies in addition to private equity and venture
capital funds. Ms Fintzen is currently Non-Executive Director of
JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust plc. Ms Fintzen was appointed
to the Board on 7 January 2019 and
was appointed Senior Independent Director on 14 October 2022.
John de Garis -
(Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration and
Nomination Committee)
Mr de
Garis is a resident of Guernsey
with over 30 years of experience in investment management. He is
Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Rocq Capital
founded in July 2016 following the
management buyout of Edmond de
Rothschild (C.I.) Ltd. He joined Edmond de Rothschild in 2008 as Chief Investment
Officer following 17 years at Credit Suisse Asset Management in
London, where his last role was
Head of European and Sterling Fixed Income. He began his career in
the City of London in 1987 at
Provident Mutual before joining MAP Fund Managers where he gained
experience managing passive equity portfolios. He is a
Non-Executive Director of VinaCapital Investment Management Limited
in Guernsey. Mr de Garis is a
Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and
Investment and holds the Certificate in Private Client Investment
Advice and Management. Mr de Garis was appointed to the Board on
9 July 2021.
Paul Le Page (Non-Executive Director and Chair of the
Management Engagement Committee)
Paul Le Page is a resident of Guernsey and has over 24 years’ experience in
investment and risk management. He was formerly an Executive
Director and Senior Portfolio Manager of FRM Investment Management
Limited, a subsidiary of the UK’s largest listed alternatives
manager, Man Group. In this capacity, he managed alternative funds
and institutional client portfolios, worth in excess of
$5bn and was a director of a number
of group funds and structures. Prior to joining FRM, he was
employed by Collins Stewart Asset Management (now Canaccord
Genuity) where he was Head of Fund Research responsible for
reviewing both traditional and alternative fund managers and
managing the firm’s alternative fund portfolios. He joined Collins
Stewart in January 1999 where he
completed his MBA in July 1999. Mr
Le Page is currently a Non-Executive
Director of NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited, RTW Biotech
Opportunities Limited and Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income
Fund Limited. Mr Le Page was
appointed to the Board on 16 March
2023.
John Le Poidevin - (Non-Executive Director and Chair of the
Audit Committee)
Mr
Le Poidevin is a resident of
Guernsey and a Fellow of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He was formerly an audit partner at BDO
LLP in London where he developed
an extensive breadth of experience and knowledge across a broad
range of business sectors in the UK, European and global markets
during over twenty years in practice, including in corporate
governance, audit, risk management and financial reporting. Since
2013, he has acted as a non-executive director, including as audit
committee chair, on the boards of several listed and private
groups. Mr Le Poidevin is currently
a Non-Executive Director of International Public Partnerships
Limited, BH Macro Limited, Super Group (SGHC) Limited, and a number
of other private companies and investment funds. Mr Le Poidevin was appointed to the Board on
9 July 2021 and was appointed Chair
of the Audit Committee on 14 October
2022.
Board
Member who retired during the year
Richard Burwood – (Non-Executive
Director)
Mr Burwood
is a resident of Guernsey with
over 30 years’ experience in banking and investment management.
During 18 years with Citibank London, Mr Burwood spent 11 years as
a fixed income portfolio manager spanning both banks/finance
investments and Asset-Backed Securities. Mr Burwood has lived in
Guernsey since 2010, initially
working as a portfolio manager for EFG Financial Products, managing
the treasury department’s ALCO Fixed Income portfolio. From 2011 to
2013, Mr Burwood worked as the Business and Investment Manager for
Man Investments, Guernsey. In
January 2014, Mr Burwood joined the
board of RoundShield Fund, a Guernsey private equity fund, focused on
European small to mid-cap opportunities. In August 2015, he became a Board Member of SME
Credit Realisation Fund Limited, which provides investors access to
a diversified pool of SME loans originated through Funding Circle’s
marketplaces in the UK, US and Europe. Mr Burwood also serves on the boards
of Habrok, a hedge fund specialising in Indian equities, and EFG
International Finance, a structured note issuance company based in
Guernsey. Mr Burwood was appointed
to the Board on 17 January 2013 and
retired from the Board effective 14
September 2023.
DISCLOSURE
OF DIRECTORSHIPS IN PUBLIC COMPANIES LISTED ON RECOGNISED STOCK
EXCHANGES
Company
Name
|
Stock
Exchange
|
|
|
Bronwyn
Curtis
|
|
BH Macro
Limited
|
London
|
Pershing
Square Holdings Limited
|
London and
Euronext Amsterdam
|
|
|
Joanne
Fintzen
|
|
JPMorgan
Claverhouse Investment Trust plc
|
London
|
|
|
Paul
Le Page
|
|
NextEnergy
Solar Fund Limited
|
London
|
RTW
Biotech Opportunities Limited
|
London
|
Sequoia
Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited
|
London
|
|
|
John
Le Poidevin
|
|
BH Macro
Limited
|
London
|
International
Public Partnerships Limited
|
London
|
Super
Group (SGHC) Limited
|
New
York
|
STRATEGIC
REPORT
for the
year ended 31 March 2024
The
Directors submit to the Shareholders their Strategic Report for the
year ended 31 March 2024.
Business Model and Strategy
The
Company is a closed-ended investment company, incorporated with
limited liability in Guernsey. The
Company has been granted exemption from income tax within
Guernsey and the Directors intend
to continue to operate the Company so that this tax-exempt status
is maintained.
Investment
Objectives and Policy
The
Company’s investment objective and policy is set out in the Summary
Information.
The
strategy for the Company is to target less liquid, higher yielding
asset-backed securities. These securities, whilst fundamentally
robust, do not offer enough liquidity for use in typical daily
mark-to-market UCITs funds, but are well suited to a traded
closed-ended vehicle, where investors can obtain liquidity by
trading shares on the London Stock Exchange. The view of the Board
is that this part of the fixed income market has been largely
overlooked and therefore represents attractive relative
value.
Income
Distributions
The
Company’s income consists wholly or mainly of investment income and
the Ordinary Shares are designed to offer a consistent dividend
yield. The Board intends to distribute substantially all of the
Company’s income after expenses to the holders of the Ordinary
Shares, paying quarterly interim dividends with equal amounts paid
in June, September and December each year, with a fourth quarter
dividend paying any remaining income for the year ending 31 March
being declared in April.
The full
year dividend per share for 2024 totalled 9.96p (2023: 9.46p)
representing 99.77% of the total comprehensive income for the year.
This is in accordance with the dividend policy approved by
Shareholders at an extraordinary shareholders meeting in
May 2019.
Long
Term Growth in Capital Value
The asset
value of the Company’s portfolio is heavily influenced by external
macro-economic factors. The Directors meet with the Portfolio
Manager regularly to discuss the portfolio. Additional details are
covered in the Chair’s Statement and Portfolio Manager’s
Report.
Future Prospects
The
Board’s main focus for the Company is to generate attractive risk
adjusted returns principally through income distributions. The
future of the Company is dependent upon the success of the
investment strategy. The investment outlook and future developments
are discussed in both the Chair’s Statement and the Portfolio
Manager’s Report.
The Board
meets at least annually, to consider the long-term strategy of the
Company, incorporating presentations from the Portfolio Manager,
Corporate Broker and other service providers, to inform discussion
on longer-term opportunities and threats to the business. Focus is
placed on principal and emerging risks which may have the potential
to disrupt the business model.
Business Environment
Principal
Risks, Emerging Risks and Uncertainties
The Board
is responsible for the Company’s system of internal financial and
reporting controls and for reviewing its effectiveness. The Board
has carried out a robust assessment of the principal risks and
uncertainties facing the Company, by assessing the Company’s risk
matrix, whilst focusing on internal financial and reporting
controls and monitoring the investment limits and restrictions set
out in the Company’s investment objective and policy. The Board
also regularly meets to discuss any emerging risks affecting the
Company and to establish effective controls to manage
them.
The below
risks are all considered principal risks affecting the
Company.
Market
Risk and Investment Valuations
Market
risk is the risk associated with changes in market factors
including spreads, interest rates, economic uncertainty, changes in
laws and political circumstances.
Due to
residual inflation concerns and growing macro-economic and
geopolitical tensions, there is a chance that both the UK and
Europe could yet go into a
prolonged recessionary or very low growth period, therefore, risk
premiums demanded by the market could rise if risk sentiment
deteriorates and wider spreads could result in a lower
mark-to-market valuation of the Company’s portfolio. To manage the
risk, the AIFM reports on ABS valuation weekly checks, and
Portfolio Manager provides visibility to alternative source. A
third party valuer is used for some assets and to obtain the
valuation of private investments.
Liquidity
Risk
Liquidity
risk is the risk that the Company may not be able to sell
securities at a given price and/or over the desired timeframe.
Investments made by the Company may be relatively illiquid. Some
investments held by the Company may take longer to realise than
others and this may limit the ability of the Company to realise its
investments and meet its target dividend payments in the scenario
where the Company has insufficient income arising from its
underlying investments. The Company has the ability to borrow to
ensure sufficient cash flows and the Portfolio Manager maintains a
liquidity management policy to monitor the liquidity risk of the
Company.
Credit
Risk and Investment Performance
Credit
risk arises when the issuer of a settled security held by the
Company experiences financing difficulties or defaults on its
payment obligations resulting in an impact to the security market
price.
The
Company holds debt securities including ABS which, compared to
bonds issued or guaranteed by developed market governments, are
generally exposed to greater risk of default in the repayment of
the capital provided to the issuer or interest payments due to the
Company. The amount of credit risk for an ABS is typically
indicated by a credit rating which is assigned by one or more
internationally recognised rating agencies. This does not amount to
a guarantee of creditworthiness of an ABS but generally provides a
strong indicator of the likelihood of default. Securities which
have a lower credit rating are generally considered to have a
higher credit risk and a greater possibility of default than more
highly rated securities. There is a risk that an internationally
recognised rating agency may assign incorrect or inappropriate
credit ratings to ABS issues. Issuers often issue securities which
are ranked in order of seniority which, in the event of default,
would be reflected in the priority in which investors might be paid
back. Whilst they have been historically low since the inception of
the Company, the level of defaults in the portfolio and the losses
suffered on such defaults may increase in the event of adverse
financial or credit market conditions.
The
Company is also exposed to unrated equity tranches of ABS that
invest predominantly in the residential mortgage markets in the UK
and the Netherlands where the
Company originates and purchases securitisations, respectively.
Under EU and UK laws, originators of securitisations are required
to retain 5% of the value of their securitisation which creates a
retention risk. As equity tranches bear first loss in the event of
a default, the Company may also diversify its retention risk by
holding more senior tranches in the securitisations that it issues,
a process known as a vertical tranche retention. Realised default
rates for RMBS securities have historically been very low since the
global financial crisis.
In the
event of a default under an Asset-Backed Security, the Company’s
right to financial recovery will depend on its ability to exercise
any rights that it has against the borrower under the insolvency
legislation of the jurisdiction in which the borrower is
incorporated. As a creditor, the Company’s level of protection and
rights of enforcement may therefore vary significantly from one
country to another, may change over time and may be subject to
rights and protections which the relevant borrower or its other
creditors might be entitled to exercise. Information regarding
investment restrictions that are currently in place in order to
manage credit risk can be found in note 18 to the financial
statements.
Foreign
Currency Risk
The
Company is exposed to foreign currency risk through its investments
in predominantly Euro-denominated assets. The Company’s share
capital is denominated in Sterling and its expenses are
predominantly incurred in Sterling. The Company’s financial
statements are presented in Sterling. Amongst other factors
affecting the foreign exchange markets, events in the eurozone may
impact upon the value of the Euro which in turn will impact the
value of the Company’s Euro-denominated investments. The Company
manages its exposure to currency movements by using spot and
forward foreign exchange contracts, which are rolled forward
periodically.
Counterparty
Credit Risk
Where a
market counterparty to an Over-the-Counter (“OTC”) derivative
transaction fails, any unrealised positive mark to market profit
may be lost. The Company uses OTC derivatives to hedge interest
rate risk and mitigates this risk by only trading derivatives
against approved counterparties which meet minimum creditworthiness
criteria and by employing central clearing and margining where
applicable.
Settlement
Risk
Settlement
risk is the risk of loss associated with any security price
movements between trade date and eventual settlement date should a
trade fail to settle on time (or at all). The Company mitigates the
risk of total loss by trading on a delivery versus payment (“DVP”)
basis for all non-derivative transactions and central clearing
helps to ensure that trades settle on a timely basis.
Reinvestment
Risk
The
Portfolio Manager is conscious of the challenge to reinvest any
monies that result from principal and income payments and to
minimise reinvestment risk. Cash flow analysis is conducted on an
ongoing basis and is an important part of the Portfolio Management
process, ensuring such proceeds can be invested efficiently and in
the best interests of the Company. The Portfolio Manager is also
able to borrow against individual holdings in the portfolio via
repurchase agreements which facilitate rapid tactical investments
when opportunities arise.
The
Portfolio Manager expects £85.4m of assets to have a Weighted
Average Life of under 1 year. While market conditions are always
subject to change, the Portfolio Manager does not currently foresee
reinvestment risk significantly impacting the yield nor affecting
each quarter’s minimum dividend and recognises the need to be
opportunistic as and when market conditions are particularly
favourable in order to reinvest any proceeds or in order to take
advantage of rapidly evolving pricing during periods of market
volatility.
Operational
Risks
The
Company is exposed to the risk arising from any failures of systems
and controls in the operations of the Portfolio Manager,
Administrator, AIFM, Independent Valuer, Custodian and the
Depositary amongst others. The Board and its Audit Committee
regularly review reports from key service providers on their
internal controls, in particular, focussing on changes in working
practices. The Administrator, Custodian and Depositary report to
the Portfolio Manager any operational issues for final approval of
the Board as required.
Accounting,
Legal and Regulatory Risks
The
Company is exposed to the risk that it may fail to maintain
accurate accounting records or fail to comply with requirements of
its Admission document and fail to meet listing obligations. The
accounting records prepared by the Administrator are reviewed by
the Portfolio Manager. The Portfolio Manager, Administrator, AIFM,
Custodian, Depositary and Corporate Broker provide regular updates
to the Board on compliance with the Admission document and changes
in regulation. Changes in the legal or the regulatory environment
can have a major impact on some classes of debt. The Portfolio
Manager monitors this and takes appropriate action.
Income
Recognition Risk
The Board
considers income recognition to be a principal risk and
uncertainty. The Portfolio Manager estimates the remaining expected
life of the security and its likely terminal value, which has an
impact on the effective interest rate of the Asset-Backed
Securities which in turn impacts the calculation of interest
income. This risk is considered on behalf of the Board by the Audit
Committee as discussed in the Audit Committee Report.
Cyber
Security Risks
The
Company is exposed to the risk arising from a successful
cyber-attack through its service providers. The Company requests of
its service providers that they have appropriate safeguards in
place to mitigate the risk of cyber-attacks (including minimising
the adverse consequences arising from any such attack), that they
provide regular updates to the Board on cyber security, and conduct
ongoing monitoring of industry developments in this
area.
Geopolitical
Risk and Economic Disruption
The
Company is exposed to the risk of geopolitical and economic events
impacting on the Company, Portfolio Manager and Shareholders,
including elevated levels of global inflation, recessionary risks
and the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. The Company does not hold any
assets in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, or the Middle East, however, the situation in the
impacted regions and wider geopolitical consequences remain
volatile and the Board and Portfolio Manager continue to monitor
the situation carefully and will take whatever steps are necessary
and in the best interests of the Company’s Shareholders. The
Company’s key suppliers do not have operations in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus or the Middle East and there is not expected to be
any adverse impact from military operations on the activity
(including processes and procedures) of the Company.
Climate
Change Risk
Climate
change risk is the risk of the Company not responding sufficiently
to pressure from stakeholders to assess and disclose the impact of
climate change on investment portfolios and address concerns on
what impact the Company and its portfolio has on the
environment.
Regular
contact is maintained by the Portfolio Manager and Broker with
major stakeholders and the Board receives regular updates from the
Portfolio Manager on emerging policy and best practice within this
area and can take action accordingly.
ESG
factors are assessed by the Portfolio Manager for every transaction
as part of the investment process. Specifically for ABS, for every
transaction an ESG assessment is produced by the Portfolio Manager
and an ESG score is assigned. External ESG factors are factors
related to the debt issuers of ABS transactions and they are
assessed through a combination of internal and third-party data.
Climate risks are incorporated in the ESG analysis under
environmental factors and taken into consideration in the final
investment decision. CO2 emissions are tracked at issuer and deal
level where information is available. Given the
bankruptcy-remoteness feature of securitisation transactions, the
climate risks which the Portfolio Manager considers more relevant
and that are able to potentially impact the value of the investment
are the ones related to the underlying collateral which include
physical and transitional risks. Those risks are also assessed and
considered as environmental factors in the ESG analysis.
Board
Diversity
When
appointing new Directors and reviewing its composition, the Board
considers, amongst other factors, diversity, balance of skills,
knowledge, gender, social and ethnic background and experience. As
at 31 March 2024, the Board is
comprised of two female and three male Directors. The Company has
no employees.
The Board believes it is
fully compliant with Listing Rules LR 9.8.6R(9) and LR 14.3.33R(1)
in relation to board diversity which are:
-
At least 40% of the Board
are women (Currently 2 out of 5 Directors are
female);
-
At least one senior
position held by a woman (Bronwyn
Curtis is currently Chair and Joanne
Fintzen is the current Senior Independent Director);
and
-
At least one individual on
the Board to be from a minority ethnic background (please see table
below).
Additional
detail is set out in the table below:
Name
|
Gender
|
Ethnicity
|
Bronwyn
Curtis
|
Female
|
White
European
|
John
de
Garis
|
Male
|
White
British
|
Joanne
Fintzen
|
Female
|
British/European
Indian
|
Paul
Le
Page
|
Male
|
White
British
|
John
Le
Poidevin
|
Male
|
White
British
|
Environmental,
Social and Governance
The Board
recognises the importance of ESG factors in the investment
management and in wider society. The Company is a closed-ended
investment company with a specific purpose and without employees or
executive directors. Given the Company’s activities, its own direct
carbon footprint is negligible.
Any
business travel by Board members is minimal and the Company no
longer provides printed copies of its annual and interim financial
statements. The Company has entered into contractual arrangements
with its primary third-party service providers, all of which
provide attestation to the Company that they have appropriate ESG
policies in place.
The
sustainability risks that the Company may be subject to are likely
to have an immaterial impact on the value of the Company’s
investments in the medium to long term due to the mitigating nature
of the Portfolio Manager’s ESG approach as detailed
below.
The key
governance processes of the Company are set out in the Directors’
Report.
It is
therefore the view of the Board that the direct environmental and
social impact of the Company is negligible and that ESG
considerations are most important in respect of investment process
for its portfolio.
The
Company has appointed the Portfolio Manager to advise it in
relation to all aspects relevant to the Investment
Portfolio.
In keeping
with the Board’s expectation that ESG factors be taken into
account, the Portfolio Manager has a formal ESG framework which
incorporates ESG factors into its investment process. The Portfolio
Manager has an ESG Committee representing all areas of its
business, reporting into its Executive Committee. The Portfolio
Manager is a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code and the UN’s
Principles for Responsible Investment, and has long-term
commitments to industry level initiatives aimed at improving
diversity in asset management.
ESG
factors are assessed by the Portfolio Manager for every transaction
as part of the investment process. Specifically for ABS, for every
transaction, an ESG assessment is produced by the Portfolio Manager
and an ESG score is assigned. External ESG factors are factors
related to the debt issuers of ABS transactions and they are
assessed through a combination of internal and third-party data.
Climate risks are incorporated in the ESG analysis under
environmental factors and taken into consideration in the final
investment decision. CO2 emissions are tracked at issuer and deal
level where information is available. Given the
bankruptcy-remoteness feature of securitisation transactions, the
climate risks which the Portfolio Manager considers more relevant
and that are able to potentially impact the value of the investment
are the ones related to the underlying collateral which include
physical and transitional risks. Those risks are also assessed and
considered as environmental factors in the ESG analysis.
TwentyFour
Asset Management LLP is a prominent investor in European ABS
markets, and as one of the few that invests across the entire
spectrum of asset types and ratings, the firm is a significant
stakeholder in the market for the long term. The specialist
structures and complexity associated with this asset class make ESG
data gathering more challenging compared to more mainstream bond
markets, but the Portfolio Manager has worked extensively with
issuers on closing this data gap and have also extended their
proprietary ESG scoring model to cover ABS-specific metrics. The
Board and the Portfolio Manager believe this proprietary ESG work
is unique in the European ABS space.
The
Portfolio Manager is a member of the European Leverage Finance
Association (“ELFA”), which develops industry guidelines and
standards to promote transparency and establish industry best
practices within the European leveraged finance and CLO markets. A
number of its ABS portfolio management team are members of ELFA’s
CLO Investor Committee, including as the current Co-Chair. The
Portfolio Manager also helped develop and launch the ESG CLO
questionnaire and have worked on the project aimed at improving ESG
data reporting on CLOs. The Portfolio Manager is also a member of
the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (“AFME”). AFME works to promote a
robust, connected and competitive financial system in the EU, UK
and globally. The Portfolio Manager contributed to the development
of a sustainable framework for securitisations and helped build the
AFME ESG Due Diligence questionnaire, covering different ESG
aspects at transaction, originator and servicer level.
In
addition to this ‘top-down’ engagement at the industry level, the
Portfolio Manager is committed to extensive ‘bottom-up’ engagement
on behalf of themselves and clients. The ongoing due diligence is
key to understanding the evolution of risks in the markets invested
in, rather than just in relation to evaluating a specific
transaction. External ESG factors are related to the debt issuers
of ABS transactions and are assessed through a combination of
internal and third-party data. The analysis focuses on the
following key areas:
Borrower/Transaction
analysis:
•
Review of
due diligence material, rating agency publications
•
Sponsor
meetings/deal roadshows
•
Modelling
and stress testing
•
Assessment
of the issuer’s existing ESG/Corporate Social Responsibility
policies and existing/potential impact on environment and
society
Scoring:
•
Collection
of ESG data through engagement and company reports
•
ESG
assessment using a combination of third-party provider and
proprietary tools
•
European
ABS is not currently covered by ESG data providers, making it
important to establish robust proprietary scoring policy. Ongoing
monitoring and engagement has been a core part of the Portfolio
Manager’s credit process since the business was founded. The
Portfolio Manager’s proprietary ESG database system is utilised to
record scoring and ongoing engagement
Investment
Decision:
•
Integration
of the ESG assessment into the transaction investment
analysis
•
ESG score
recorded in the database and incorporated as a factor in relative
value decision
•
Review of
the credit in Investment Committee
•
Approved
or Declined
Monitoring:
•
Monitoring
and updating of the ESG scores
•
Analysis
of additions/disposals from ESG perspective
•
Monitoring
of engagements
Further
details of the ESG policies and practices of the Portfolio Manager
can be found at:
https://www.twentyfouram.com/responsible-investment-policy
https://www.twentyfouram.com/corporate-social-responsibility
https://www.twentyfouram.com/esg-at-twentyfour-integration-and-engagement
Key
Service Providers
The Board
undertakes annual due diligence on, and ongoing monitoring of, all
such Service Providers including obtaining a confirmation that each
such Service Provider complies with relevant laws, regulations and
good practice.
The
Administrator is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Northern
Trust Corporation, which has adopted the UN Global Compact
principles, specifically: implementing a precautionary approach to
addressing environmental issues through effective programs,
undertaking initiatives that demonstrate the acknowledgement of
environmental responsibility, promoting and using environmentally
sustainable technologies, and UN Sustainable Development Goals,
specifically: using only energy efficient appliances and light
bulbs, avoiding unnecessary use and waste of water, implementing
responsible consumption and production, and taking action to reduce
climate change.
Engagement
and Voting
Wherever
possible, on behalf of its investors, the Company is committed to
actively engaging at a corporate, industry and regulatory level.
The Company has contracted the Portfolio Manager to perform this
function. It is noted that the Investment Portfolio is comprised
primarily of fixed income assets. The voting rights attributable to
these types of securities are usually limited in scope, and the
opportunity to engage at a corporate level shall therefore, in most
cases, be via interaction with senior management of companies
during the due diligence process.
The
Portfolio Manager considers engagement as a constructive, active
dialogue between investors and companies on all aspects of their
ESG performance. While fixed income investors do not have voting
rights in the way shareholders do, larger firms typically issue
bonds multiple times a year, which puts bondholders in a strong
position to be able to influence corporate policy by engaging with
management on an ongoing basis.
The
Portfolio Manager aims to engage regularly with the management of
every issuer held in the Company’s portfolio, to better understand
their ESG strengths and weaknesses, monitor their direction of
travel, and overall encourage better ESG practices.
As part of
the Portfolio Manager’s commitment to the UK Stewardship Code, it
publishes a quarterly summary of engagements with bond issuers,
along with details of any resulting investment
decisions.
A copy of
the Portfolio Manager’s Engagement Policy can be found at
https://www.twentyfouram.com/engagement-at-twentyfour.
Under the
AIC Code, in the event that 20% or more of the Shareholder votes
are cast against a Board recommendation for a resolution, the
Company should explain, when announcing the voting results, what
actions it intends to take to consult Shareholders in order to
understand the reasons behind the result and following such
consultation, should provide a final summary to Shareholders and in
the next annual report. There is nothing to report in respect of
the Shareholder votes held in the year.
Position and Performance
PRIIPs
KIDs
The
Company has published a Key Information Document (“KID”) in
compliance with the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment
Products (“PRIIPs”) Regulation. The KID can be found on the Company
website at the web address below:
https://twentyfouram.com/funds/twentyfour-income-fund/fund-literature/
The
process for calculating the risks, cost and potential returns are
prescribed by regulation. The figures in the KID may not reflect
the expected returns for the Company and anticipated returns cannot
be guaranteed.
Key
Performance Indicators (“KPIs”)
At each
Board meeting, the Directors consider a number of performance
measures to assess the Company’s success in achieving its
objectives. Below are the main KPIs which have been identified by
the Board for determining the progress of the Company:
-
Net Asset
Value
-
Share
Price
-
Earnings/(Loss) Per
Ordinary Share
-
Discount/Premium to Net
Asset Value
-
Ongoing
Charges
-
Dividends
Declared
Net
Asset Value
The Net
Asset Value (“NAV”) per Ordinary Share, including retained
earnings, at 31 March 2024 was
108.79p, based on net assets as at this date of £813,539,986
divided by number of Ordinary Shares in issue of 747,836,661
(31 March 2023: 100.97p based on net
assets of £724,982,762 divided by number of Ordinary Shares in
issue of 718,036,661).
The NAV
increase over the period has been driven by the strong performance
of European ABS, with spreads tightening as base rates increased
and stayed at higher levels, also meaning higher coupons for the
Company’s portfolio holdings. Mezzanine RMBS and especially CLOs
were the main beneficiaries of spread tightening, resulting in very
strong performance for the year for the portfolio holdings.
Performance was also driven by the accretive nature of the share
issuance throughout the year and reinvestment of
amortisations.
The total
NAV performance for the year was 18.10%. Additionally, the Company
has paid out all of its income as dividend (9.96p), with the
resulting impact on the NAV.
Share
Price
The Share
Price is the price per Ordinary Share trading on the London Stock
Exchange.
On
31 March 2024, the share price was
104.80p (31 March 2023:
100.50p).
Earnings/(loss)
per Ordinary Share – Basic and Diluted
Earnings/(loss)
per Ordinary Share is calculated by dividing the net earnings for
the year of £134,014,165 (31 March
2023: net loss of £22,595,345) by the weighted average
number of shares for the year of 745,285,022 (31 March 2023: 664,696,773). The net income for
the year has been primarily driven by an increase in unrealised
gains on investments. Market sentiment is discussed in further
detail within the Chair’s statement.
For the
year ended 31 March 2024, the
earnings/(loss) per Ordinary Share was 18.25p (31 March 2023: 3.4p).
Discount/Premium
to NAV
The
discount/premium to NAV is a percentage difference in the share
price per share to the net asset value per Ordinary Share. It is
calculated by subtracting the share price from the NAV per Ordinary
Share and dividing it by the NAV per Ordinary Share. If the share
price is lower than the NAV per Ordinary Share, the shares are
trading at a discount. If the share price is higher than the NAV
per Ordinary Share, the shares are trading at a premium.
On
31
March 2024, the discount to NAV was 3.67% (31 March 2023: discount of 0.47%).
Ongoing
Charges
Ongoing
charges for the year ended 31 March
2024 have been calculated in accordance with the Association
of Investment Companies (the “AIC”) recommended methodology. The
ongoing charges represent the Company’s management fee and all
other operating expenses, excluding finance costs, share issue or
buyback costs and non-recurring legal and professional fees,
expressed as a percentage of the average of the weekly net assets
during the year.
The
ongoing charges for the year ended 31 March
2024 were 0.95% (31 March
2023: 0.97%). The ongoing charges were calculated as
follows:
Ongoing
Charges
|
31.03.2024
£
|
31.03.2023
£
|
Average
NAV
for
the
year
(a)
|
763,780,078
|
670,955,356
|
Total
expenses
|
7,306,049
|
6,828,728
|
Less:
Expenses
not recognised
as
part of
the AIC
Ongoing Charges Methodology
|
(47,305)
|
(287,931)
|
Total
recognised
expenses
(b)
|
7,258,744
|
6,540,797
|
Ongoing
Charges
(b/a)
|
0.95%
|
0.97%
|
Dividends
Until
21 September 2022, the Company
maintained an annual dividend of 6
pence, per Ordinary Share, per year in accordance with the
Company’s prospectus. On 21 September
2022, the annual dividend increased to 7 pence, per Ordinary Share and on 24 February 2023, it increased further to
8 pence per Ordinary Share. If the
minimum dividend target of 6p for the year is not met, a
Continuation Vote is required.
The
dividend yield for the year ended 31 March
2024 was 9.50% (31 March 2023:
9.41%) meaning that the Company met its dividend target for the
current year. The following dividends were declared in respect of
the year ended 31 March
2024:
Period
to
|
Dividend rate
per
Ordinary
Share
(£)
|
Net
dividend
payable
(£)
|
Ex-dividend
date
|
Record
date
|
Pay
date
|
30
June
2023
|
0.0200
|
14,956,733
|
20
July
2023
|
21
July
2023
|
4
August
2023
|
30
September
2023
|
0.0200
|
14,956,733
|
19
October
2023
|
20
October
2023
|
3
November
2023
|
31
December
2023
|
0.0200
|
14,956,733
|
18
January
2024
|
19
January
2024
|
2
February
2024
|
31
March
2024
|
0.0396
|
29,614,332
|
18
April
2024
|
19
April
2024
|
3
May
2024
|
The
Directors will continue to monitor the appropriateness of the
dividend policy.
Viability
Statement
Under the
UK Corporate Governance Code, the Board is required to make a
“Viability Statement” which considers the Company’s current
position, principal risks, emerging risks and uncertainties
combined with an assessment of the prospects of the Company in
order to be able to state that they have a reasonable expectation
that the Company will be able to continue in operation and that the
business model is viable over the period of their assessment. The
Board considers that three years is an appropriate period to assess
the viability of the Company given the uncertainty of the
investment world and the strategy period. In selecting this period,
the Board considered the environment within which the Company
operates and the risks associated with the Company.
The
Company’s prospects are driven by its business model and strategy.
The Company’s aim is to provide investors with an attractive level
of income with a high degree of certainty around that income and a
focus on capital preservation in uncertain times, by investing in
less liquid, high yielding asset-backed securities.
The
Board’s assessment of the Company over the three-year period has
been made with reference to the Company’s current position and
prospects, the Company’s strategy, and the Board’s risk appetite
having considered each of the Company’s principal risks, emerging
risks and uncertainties summarised above.
The Board
has also considered the Company’s expected cash flows, income
flows, its likely ability to pay dividends and analysis of the
portfolio with reference to:
-
liquidity
analysis, including but not limited to, the changes in liquidity of
the Company over time based on the liquidity of the underlying
assets;
-
foreign
exchange analysis, including but not limited to, monitoring the
effectiveness of the Company’s foreign exchange hedging
strategy;
-
credit
analysis, including but not limited to, analysing the current
credit ratings and credit rating outlooks of the underlying
securities by the main rating agencies, as well as sufficient
diversification across sectors;
-
valuation
analysis, including but not limited to, assessing the pricing
accuracy of the underlying securities; and
-
significant
accounting judgements, estimates and assumptions, including but not
limited to, the fair value of securities not quoted in an active
market, estimated life of asset-backed securities and determination
of observable inputs.
In this
context, the Board’s central case is that the prospects for
economic activity will remain such that the investment objective,
policy and strategy of the Company will be viable for the
foreseeable future through a period of at least three years from
the year ended 31 March
2024.
In making
this judgement, the Board has assessed that the main risks to the
viability of the Company are key global and market uncertainties
driven by factors external to the Company which in turn can impact
on the liquidity and NAV of the investment portfolio.
A
simulation has been designed to estimate the impact of these
uncertainties on the NAV of the Company at times of stress, based
on historical performance data, using techniques which analyse how
changes in the Company’s ability to generate income (by assessing
different levels of reinvestment rates available as well as changes
in FX and interest income generation, over a 3-year period) would
impact the annual dividend the Company is able to generate. All of
the foregoing has been considered against the background of the
Company’s dividend target.
Key
assumptions covered by the Board in relation to the viability of
the Company include:
Dividend
Target
The
ongoing viability of the Company and the validity of the going
concern basis depend on the Company meeting its dividend target
annually during the three-year period. In the event that the
Company does not meet the dividend target annually, as disclosed in
note 21, during the three-year period an Ordinary Resolution will
be put to the Shareholders, at the AGM following any reporting
period in which the minimum dividend target of 6p per year is not
met, with the continuation vote requirements set out in note
18.
The
Company’s ability to continue to meet its dividend target is
further disclosed in the Chair’s Statement.
Realisation
Opportunity
The next
Realisation Opportunity is due to occur just after the AGM in
Autumn 2025. The Board’s view is that should the share price
remains at the current levels, relative to the NAV, they would not
expect to see a major incentive to redeem.
Whilst
there is no degree of certainty, rather like the Realisation
Opportunity that occurred during 2022, there may be some redemption
requests. In the past, these have been matched by secondary selling
of the redeemed shares to new purchasers. It is believed the
Realisation Opportunity is currently a low risk to the viability
prospects of the Company.
Market
Uncertainty
The year
saw strong performance for most sectors held in the Company’s
portfolio, as a result of a high rate environment and robust
fundamental performance, helped by solid wage growth and a strong
labour market.
Risk
of Credit Losses
The risk
of credit impairment and losses increased due to the risk of
default, caused by higher levels of inflation and increasing global
interest rates. The Portfolio Manager continues to stress test the
holdings of the Company, under scenarios that specifically address
the impact of these significant economic events on individual loan
pools, and analyse the performance of the underlying
investments.
The
Portfolio Manager remains of the view that there is no material
risk of credit issues on any holdings in the portfolio, and the
price recovery seen since October
2022 support their view at the time that, relying on their
stress modelling, the material price moves seen were largely
attributable to market liquidity rather than concerns around credit
performance.
Between
31 March 2024 and the date of
signing, the Company’s portfolio witnessed no defaults and no
deferrals of interest payments.
Section
172 Statement
Although
the Company is domiciled in Guernsey, the Board has considered the
guidance set out in the AIC Code in relation to Section 172 of the
Companies Act 2006 in the UK. Section 172 of the Companies Act
requires that the Directors of the Company act in the way they
consider, in good faith, is most likely to promote the success of
the Company for the benefit of all stakeholders, including
suppliers, customers and Shareholders.
Further
information as to how the Board has had regard to the Section 172
factors:
Section
172 factors
|
Key
examples
|
Locations
|
Consequences
of decisions in the long term
|
Investment
Objectives and Policy
|
Summary
Information
|
|
Future
Prospects
|
Strategic
Report
|
|
Dividend
Policy
|
Note
21
|
|
Viability
Statement
|
Strategic
Report
|
|
|
|
Fostering
business relationships with suppliers,
customers
and other stakeholders
|
Shareholders;
Key Service Providers
|
Strategic
Report; AGM; Monthly Factsheet and Commentary
|
Impact of
operations on the community and the
|
Environmental,
Social and Governance
|
Strategic
Report
|
environment
|
|
|
|
|
|
Maintaining
high standard of business conduct
|
Corporate
Governance
|
Directors'
Report
|
|
|
|
Signed on
behalf of the Board of Directors on 10 July
2024 by:
Bronwyn Curtis John
Le Poidevin
Director Director
DIRECTORS’
REPORT
The
Directors present their Annual Report and Audited Financial
Statements (the “Financial Statements”) for the year ended
31 March
2024.
Business
Review
The
Company
TwentyFour
Income Fund Limited was incorporated with limited liability in
Guernsey, as a closed-ended
investment company on 11 January
2013. The Ordinary Shares of the Company were listed with a
Premium Listing on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority
and admitted to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock
Exchange on 6 March 2013.
Investment
Objective and Policy
The
Company’s investment objective and policy is set out in the Summary
Information.
Discount/Premium
to NAV
The Board
monitors and manages the level of the share price discount/premium
to NAV. In managing this, the Company operates a share buyback
facility whereby it may purchase, subject to various terms as set
out in its Articles and in accordance with The Companies
(Guernsey) Law, 2008, up to 14.99%
of the Company’s Ordinary Shares in issue immediately following
Admission for trading on the London Stock Exchange.
On
22 August 2022, a realisation
opportunity (“Realisation Opportunity”) was made under which
investors were offered an opportunity to realise all or part of
their Shareholding in the Company, with Shareholders opting to
redeem 9,582,068 Ordinary Shares for a consideration of
£8,814,544.
A
Realisation Opportunity, where Shareholders of the Company may
apply to redeem Ordinary Shares up to 56 days before the relevant
annual general meeting date of the Company (the “Reorganisation
Date”), will be offered at the annual general meeting of the
Company every three years subject to the aggregate NAV of the
Ordinary Shares held by shareholders who do not submit realisation
elections in respect of those Ordinary Shares (“Continuing Ordinary
Shares”) on the last Business Day before Reorganisation being not
less than £100 million.
The next
Realisation Opportunity is due to take place in Autumn
2025.
Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
information is set out in the Summary Information.
Going
Concern
The
Directors believe that it is appropriate to adopt the going concern
basis in preparing the Financial Statements in view of the
Company’s holdings in cash and cash equivalents and the liquidity
of investments and the income deriving from those investments,
meaning the Company has adequate financial resources and suitable
management arrangements in place to continue as a going concern for
at least twelve months from the date of approval of the Financial
Statements.
The
Company also achieved and exceeded its dividend target of
6 pence per Ordinary Share per year,
for the year ended 31 March 2024,
meaning that as per the Company’s Articles, a Continuation Vote is
not required.
The
Company’s continuing ability to meet its dividend target, along
with the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, in light
of the external geopolitical and macroeconomic factors, the
increased risk of default due to elevated levels of inflation above
target, higher global interest rates and the next Realisation
Opportunity has been considered as part of the Viability
Statement.
On
31 March 2024, the Company’s cash
balance was 1.62% of total net assets (2023: 3.76%).
Post-year
end, the Company has maintained a positive cash balance and
continues to meet liabilities when they fall due. The Portfolio
Manager considers that cash management plays a key part in the
management of the Company and continuingly monitors liabilities,
including the Company’s quarterly dividends.
No
material doubts in respect of the Company’s ability to continue as
a going concern have been identified.
Results
The
results for the year are set out in the Statement of Comprehensive
Income. The Directors declared dividends of £74,484,531 in respect
of income available for distribution earned during the year ended
31 March 2024, a breakdown of which
can be found in note 21 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
Dividends paid during the year amounted to £77,354,015 as
recognised in the Statement of Changes in Equity.
Income
available for distribution in any quarter comprises (a) the accrued
income of the portfolio for the period, and (b) an additional
amount to reflect any income purchased in the course of any
Ordinary Share subscriptions that took place during the period (so
as to ensure that the income yield of the shares is not diluted as
a consequence of the issue of new shares during an income period)
and (c) any income on the foreign exchange contracts created by the
risk-free rate differentials between each foreign currency pair,
less (d) total expenditure for the period.
Portfolio
Manager
The
Company entered into a Portfolio Management Agreement with
TwentyFour Asset Management LLP, the Portfolio Manager, on
29 May 2014. Pursuant to this
agreement, the Portfolio Manager is entitled to a portfolio
management fee paid monthly in arrears, at a rate of 0.75% per
annum of the lower of NAV, which is calculated as of the last
business day of each month, or market capitalisation of each class
of shares. For additional information, refer to note 15 of the
Notes to the Financial Statements.
The Board,
through its Management Engagement Committee, has reviewed the
performance of the Portfolio Manager and their fee basis and has
concluded that it is in the interests of Shareholders and the
Company that the appointment of the Portfolio Manager should
continue in order to best achieve the Company's investment
objectives.
Alternative
Investment Fund Manager
Alternative
investment fund management services have been provided by Apex
Fundrock Limited (previously called Maitland Institutional Services
Limited) (“Apex”) since their appointment as Alternative Investment
Fund Manager (“AIFM”) on 29 May 2014.
On 9 January 2024, the Board approved
the appointment of Waystone Management Company (IE) Limited as the
new AIFM of the Company, which took effect post year end from
21 June 2024. The AIFM fee is payable
quarterly in arrears at a rate of 0.07% of the NAV of the Company
below £50 million, 0.05% on Net Assets between £50 million and £100
million and 0.03% on Net Assets in excess of £100 million. For
additional information, refer to note 16 of the Notes to the
Financial Statements.
Custodian
and Depositary
Custodian
and Depositary services are provided by Northern Trust
(Guernsey) Limited. The terms of
the Depositary agreement, allow Northern Trust (Guernsey) Limited to receive professional fees
for services rendered. For additional information, refer to note 16
of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
Directors
The
Directors of the Company during the year and at the date of this
Report are set out in the Corporate Information.
As at
31 March 2024, Directors of the
Company held the following numbers of Ordinary Shares
beneficially:
|
Number
of
Ordinary
Shares
|
Number
of
Ordinary
Shares
|
|
31.03.24
|
31.03.23
|
Bronwyn
Curtis¹
|
114,154
|
105,313
|
John Le
Poidevin
|
260,121
|
260,121
|
Richard
Burwood²
|
N/A
|
87,186
|
John de
Garis
|
39,753
|
39,753
|
Joanne
Fintzen³
|
38,538
|
38,538
|
Paul Le
Page
|
49,457
|
49,457
|
¹
Bronwyn Curtis acquired 8,841
Ordinary Shares through reinvested dividends.
²
Richard Burwood retired from the
Board on 14 September 2023, therefore
his shareholding as at 31 March 2024
has not been disclosed.
³
Joanne Fintzen purchased 47,722
Ordinary Shares on 5 April 2024,
increasing her shareholding post year end to 86,260 Ordinary
Shares.
Corporate
Governance
The Board
is committed to high standards of corporate governance and has
implemented a framework for corporate governance which it considers
to be appropriate for an investment company in order to comply with
the principles of the UK Corporate Governance Code (the “UK Code”).
The Company is also required to comply with the Code of Corporate
Governance (the “GFSC Code”) issued by the Guernsey Financial
Services Commission.
The UK
Listing Authority requires all UK premium listed companies to
disclose how they have complied with the provisions of the UK Code.
This Corporate Governance Statement, together with the Going
Concern Statement, Viability Statement and the Statement of
Directors’ Responsibilities indicate how the Company has complied
with the principles of good governance of the UK Code and its
requirements on Internal Control.
The
Company is a member of the AIC and by complying with the 2019 AIC
Code of Corporate Governance (“the AIC Code”) is deemed to comply
with both the UK Code and the GFSC Code.
The Board
has considered the principles and recommendations of the AIC Code
and considers that reporting against these will provide appropriate
information to Shareholders. To ensure ongoing compliance with
these principles, the Board reviews a report from the Corporate
Secretary at each quarterly meeting, identifying how the Company is
in compliance and identifying any changes that might be
necessary.
The AIC
Code and the AIC Guide are available on the AIC’s website,
www.theaic.co.uk. The UK
Code is available in the Financial Reporting Council’s
website,
www.frc.org.uk.
Throughout
the year ended 31 March 2024, the
Company has complied with the recommendations of the 2019 AIC Code
and thus the relevant provisions of the UK Code, except as set out
below.
The UK
Code includes provisions relating to:
-
The role
of the Chief Executive;
-
Executive
Directors’ remuneration;
-
Annually
assessing the need for an internal audit function; and
-
The means
for the workforce to raise concerns.
For the
reasons set out in the AIC Guide, the Board considers the first
three provisions are not relevant to the position of the Company as
it is an externally managed investment company. The Company has
therefore not reported further in respect of these
provisions.
The fourth
point is not applicable to the Company, as it has no
employees.
The Board
established a Remuneration and Nomination Committee, which held its
first meeting on 14 March 2023. Prior
to that date, the Board, as a whole, fulfilled the function of a
Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
Details of
compliance with the AIC Code are noted below. There have been no
other instances of non-compliance, other than those noted
above.
The
Company’s risk exposure and the effectiveness of its risk
management and internal control systems are reviewed by the Audit
Committee at its meetings and at least annually by the Board. The
Board believes that the Company has adequate and effective systems
in place to identify, mitigate and manage the risks to which it is
exposed.
Role,
Composition and Independence of the Board
The Board
is the Company’s governing body and has overall responsibility for
maximising the Company’s success by directing and supervising the
affairs of the business and meeting the appropriate interests of
Shareholders and relevant stakeholders, while enhancing the value
of the Company and also ensuring protection of investors. A summary
of the Board’s responsibilities is as follows:
-
statutory obligations and
public disclosure;
-
strategic matters and
financial reporting;
-
risk assessment and
management including reporting compliance,
governance,
monitoring and control;
and
-
other matters having a
material effect on the Company.
The
Board’s responsibilities for the Annual Report and Audited
Financial Statements are set out in the Statement of Directors’
Responsibilities.
The Board
currently consists of five non-executive Directors, all of whom are
considered to be independent of the Portfolio Manager and as
prescribed by the Listing Rules.
The Board
considers it has the appropriate balance of diverse skills and
experience, independence and knowledge of the Company and the wider
sector, to enable it to discharge its duties and responsibilities
effectively and that no individual or group of individuals
dominates decision making. The Chair is responsible for leadership
of the Board and ensuring its effectiveness. Joanne Fintzen serves as Senior Independent
Director.
Chair
The Chair
is Bronwyn Curtis. The Chair of the
Board must be independent for the purposes of Chapter 15 of the
Listing Rules. Bronwyn Curtis is
considered independent because she:
-
has no current or
historical employment with the Portfolio Manager;
and
-
has no current
directorships in any other investment funds managed by the
Portfolio Manager.
Biographies
of all the Directors can be found in the Board Members
section.
Board
Role and Composition
The Board
is required to ensure that the Annual Report and Audited Financial
Statements, taken as a whole, are fair, balanced and understandable
and provide the information necessary for Shareholders to assess
the Company’s position and performance, business model and
strategy. In seeking to achieve this, the Directors have set out
the Company’s investment objective and policy and have explained
how the Board and its delegated Committees operate, and how the
Directors review the risk environment within which the Company
operates and set appropriate risk controls. Furthermore, throughout
the Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements the Board has
sought to provide further information to enable Shareholders to
have a fair, balanced and understandable view.
The Board
has contractually delegated responsibility for the management of
its investment portfolio, the arrangement of custodial and
depositary services and the provision of accounting and company
secretarial services.
The Board
is responsible for the appointment and monitoring of all service
providers to the Company.
The
Directors are kept fully informed of investment and financial
controls and other matters by all services providers that are
relevant to the business of the Company and should be brought to
the attention of the Directors.
The Board
has adopted a policy on the tenure of its independent Directors
that aligns with the AIC Code of Corporate Governance (“the Code”)
that none of the Directors, including the Chair of the Board should
generally serve for more than 9 years, even though the Board
considers that boards of investment companies are more likely to
benefit from a director’s long association with a company in that
they will experience a number of investment cycles. At the 2023
AGM, Richard Burwood, who had been
appointed as Director on the incorporation of the Company
retired.
The Board
has also given careful consideration to the recommendations of the
Davies Review and their implementation. The Board has reviewed its
composition and believes that the current Board mix, allied to its
recruitment plans, provide an appropriate range of skills,
experience and diversity. The Board is committed to continuing its
implementation of the recommendations of the Davies Review as part
of its succession planning over future years and by complying with
the disclosure requirement of DTR 7.2.8 in terms of the Company’s
diversity policy.
The Board
holds quarterly Board meetings, to discuss general management,
structure, finance, corporate governance, marketing, risk
management, compliance, asset allocation and gearing, contracts and
performance. The quarterly Board meetings are the principal source
of regular information for the Board enabling it to determine
policy and to monitor performance, compliance and controls but
these meetings are also supplemented by communication and
discussions throughout the year.
A
representative of the Portfolio Manager, AIFM, Administrator,
Custodian and Depositary and Corporate Broker attend each Board
meeting either in person or by telephone, thus enabling the Board
to fully discuss and review the Company’s operation and
performance. Each Director has direct access to the Portfolio
Manager and Company Secretary and may, at the expense of the
Company, seek independent professional advice on any
matter.
The Audit
Committee meets at least twice a year, the Management Engagement
Committee meets at least once a year and a dividend meeting is held
quarterly. In addition, ad hoc meetings of the Board to review
specific items between the regular scheduled quarterly meetings can
be arranged.
Between
formal meetings, there is regular contact with the Portfolio
Manager, AIFM, Administrator, Custodian and Depositary and the
Corporate Broker.
Attendance
at the Board and Committee meetings during the year was as
follows:
|
Quarterly
Board Meetings
|
Audit
Committee Meetings
|
Management
Engagement Committee Meetings
|
Remuneration
and Nomination Committee
|
Ad hoc
Committee Meetings
|
|
Held
|
Attended
|
Held
|
Attended
|
Held
|
Attended
|
Held
|
Attended
|
Held
|
Attended
|
Bronwyn
Curtis
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
4
|
John Le
Poidevin
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
5
|
Richard
Burwood
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
3
|
John de
Garis
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
6
|
Joanne
Fintzen
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
4
|
Paul Le
Page
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
7
|
The number
of meetings held indicates the meetings held during each Director’s
membership of the relevant Board or Committee during the year ended
31 March 2024.
In
addition to the scheduled Board and Committee meetings, seven ad
hoc Committee of the Board meetings were held during the
year, which were
attended by those Directors available at the time.
Board
Performance and Training
During the
year, the Remuneration and Nomination Committee carried out a
review of the Board’s performance. This followed the external
review by Trust Associates Limited in the prior year. This review
by the Remuneration & Nomination Committee, determined the
Board’s approach to corporate governance and its supervision of its
regulatory compliance continued to be good and considered the Board
to be effective with independent thought and action with the right
balance of skills and experience necessary for its proper
functioning and the safeguarding of Shareholders’
interests.
Re-Election
of Directors
Under the
terms of their appointment, each Director is required to seek
re-election on an annual basis. At the 14
September 2023 Annual General Meeting, all continuing
Directors were re-elected with the exception of Richard Burwood who retired from the Board on
this date. The Company may terminate the appointment of a Director
without compensation immediately on serving written
notice.
UK
Criminal Finances Act 2017
In respect
of the UK Criminal Finances Act 2017 which introduced a new
Corporate Criminal Offence of ‘failing to take reasonable steps to
prevent the facilitation of tax evasion’, the Board confirms that
it is committed to zero tolerance towards the criminal facilitation
of tax evasion.
The Board
also keeps under review developments involving other social and
environmental issues, such as the General Data Protection
Regulation (“GDPR”), which came into effect on 25 May 2018, and Modern Slavery, and reports on
those to the extent they are considered relevant to the Company’s
operations. There are no findings to report at year
end.
Board
Committees and their Activities
Terms
of Reference
All Terms
of Reference of the Board’s Committees are available from the
Administrator upon request.
Management
Engagement Committee
The Board
has established a Management Engagement Committee which meets at
least once a year and comprises the entire Board, with Richard Burwood serving as Chair until he
retired from the Board on 14 September
2023 and was succeeded by Paul Le
Page. Its formal duties and responsibilities include the
regular review of the performance of and contractual arrangements
with the Portfolio Manager and other service providers and the
preparation of the Committee's annual opinion as to the Portfolio
Manager's services.
The
Management Engagement Committee carried out a review of the
performance and capabilities of the Portfolio Manager and other
service providers at its 14 September
2023 meeting and recommended the continued appointment of
TwentyFour Asset Management LLP as Portfolio Manager is in the
interest of Shareholders. The Management Engagement Committee also
recommended that the appointment of all the Company’s current
service providers should continue, with the exception of the AIFM
position which was recommended for tender. Subsequent to year end,
the Committee recommended the appointment of Waystone Management
Company (IE) Limited as the new AIFM.
Audit
Committee
The Audit
Committee comprises the entire Board, with the exception of the
Chair of the Board, with John Le
Poidevin acting as Chair. The terms of reference of the
Audit Committee provide that the Committee shall be responsible,
amongst other things, for reviewing the annual and interim
financial statements, considering the appointment and independence
of the external auditor, discussing with the external auditor the
scope and results from the audit and reviewing the Company’s
compliance with the AIC Code.
Further
details on the Audit Committee can be found in the Audit Committee
Report.
Remuneration
and Nomination Committee
The
Remuneration and Nomination Committee has been established
consisting of all Directors. John de
Garis has served as chair since its establishment in the
financial year ended 31 March
2023.
The
Remuneration and Nomination Committee met on 14 March 2024, where, following a review of
external market data, the Committee recommended the following
Directors’ fee increases with effect from 1
April 2024: Chair, increase from £60,000 to £75,000 per
annum; Audit Chair, increase from £50,000 to £60,000 per annum;
Committee Chair, increase from £42,000 to £50,000 per annum; Senior
Independent Director, increase from £42,000 to £50,000 per annum;
and that all other Directors’ fees increase from £40,000 to £48,000
per annum.
International
Tax Reporting
For
purposes of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, the Company
registered with the US Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) as a
Guernsey reporting Foreign
Financial Institution (“FFI”), received a Global Intermediary
Identification Number (8V9U53.99999.SL.831), and can be found on
the IRS FFI list.
The Common
Reporting Standard (“CRS”) is a global standard developed for the
automatic exchange of financial account information developed by
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(“OECD”), which has been adopted in Guernsey and which came into effect on
1 January
2016.
The Board
ensures that the Company is compliant with Guernsey regulations and guidance in this
regard.
Internal
Controls
In
accordance with the AIC Code, the Board is ultimately responsible
for establishing and maintaining the Company’s system of internal
financial and operating control and for maintaining and reviewing
its effectiveness throughout the year. The Company’s risk matrix
remains the core element of the Company’s risk management process
in establishing the Company’s system of internal financial and
reporting control. The risk matrix is prepared by the Board,
identifying the risks facing the Company and then collectively
assessing the likelihood and impact of each risk and the strength
of the controls operating over each risk. The system of internal
financial and operating control is designed to manage rather than
to eliminate the risk of failure to achieve business objectives,
safeguard Company assets and maintain reliable financial
information and by its nature can only provide reasonable and not
absolute assurance against misstatement and loss.
The AIC
Code requires Directors to conduct at least annually a review of
the Company’s system of internal financial and operating control,
covering all controls, including financial, operational, compliance
and risk management. The Board has evaluated the systems of
internal controls of the Company. In particular, it has prepared a
process for identifying and evaluating the significant risks
affecting the Company and the policies by which these risks are
managed. The Board also considers whether the appointment of an
internal auditor is required and has determined that there is no
requirement for a direct internal audit function at this
time.
The Board
has delegated the day-to-day responsibilities for the management of
the Company’s investment portfolio, the provision of depositary
services and administration, registrar and corporate secretarial
functions including the independent calculation of the Company’s
NAV and the production of the Annual Report and Financial
Statements which are independently audited.
Formal
contractual agreements have been put in place between the Company
and service providers. Even though the Board has delegated
responsibility for these functions, it retains accountability for
these functions and is responsible for the systems of internal
control. At each quarterly Board meeting, compliance reports are
provided by the Administrator, Company Secretary, Portfolio
Manager, AIFM and Depositary. The Board also receives confirmation
from the Administrator of its accreditation under its Service
Organisation Controls 1 report.
The
Company’s risk exposure and the effectiveness of its risk
management and internal control systems are reviewed by the Audit
Committee at its meetings and at least annually by the Board. The
Board believes that the Company has adequate and effective systems
in place to identify, mitigate and manage the risks to which it is
exposed. Principal risks and uncertainties are set out in the
Strategic Report.
Shareholder
Engagement
The Board
welcomes Shareholders’ views and places great importance on
communication with its Shareholders. Shareholders wishing to meet
the Chair and other Board members should contact the Company’s
Administrator and a number of such meetings occurred during the
year.
The
Portfolio Manager and Broker maintain a regular dialogue with
institutional Shareholders, the feedback from which is reported to
the Board.
The
Company’s Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) provides a forum for
Shareholders to meet and discuss issues of the Company and
Shareholders with the opportunity to vote on the resolutions as
specified in the Notice of AGM. The Notice of the AGM and the
results are released to the London Stock Exchange in the form of an
announcement. Board members will be available to respond to
Shareholders’ questions at the AGM.
In
addition, the Company has a website,
www.twentyfourincomefund.com, which
contains comprehensive information, including links to regulatory
announcements, share price information, financial reports,
investment objective and investor contacts.
Significant
Shareholdings
Shareholders
with holdings of more than 3.0% of the Ordinary Shares of the
Company at 13 June 2024 (latest
available) were as follows:
|
Number of
Ordinary
Shares
|
Percentage
of
issued
share capital
|
Investec
Wealth
&
Investment
|
80,714,776
|
10.79%
|
TwentyFour
Asset
Management
|
37,660,875
|
5.04%
|
RBC
Brewin
Dolphin
|
33,309,666
|
4.45%
|
Hargreaves
Lansdown
Asset
Management
|
33,144,159
|
4.43%
|
Aviva
Investment
|
27,042,074
|
3.62%
|
East
Riding
of
Yorkshire
Council
|
26,062,776
|
3.49%
|
Killik
&
Co
|
25,531,401
|
3.41%
|
Interactive
Investor (EO)
|
24,835,602
|
3.32%
|
Those
invested directly or indirectly in 3.0% or more of the issued share
capital of the Company will have the same voting rights as other
holders of Ordinary Shares.
Disclosure
of Information to Auditor
The
Directors who held office at the date of approval of these
Financial Statements confirm that, so far as they are each aware,
there is no relevant audit information of which the Company’s
auditor is unaware; and each Director has taken all the steps that
they ought to have taken as a Director to make themselves aware of
any relevant audit information and to establish that the Company’s
auditor is aware of that information.
Independent
Auditor
A
resolution for the reappointment of KPMG Channel Islands Limited
(“KPMG”) as auditor to the Company will be proposed at the annual
general meeting. KPMG has indicated their willingness to continue
in office.
Signed on
behalf of the Board of Directors on 10 July
2024 by:
Bronwyn Curtis John
Le Poidevin
Director Director
STATEMENT
OF DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES
The
Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the
Financial Statements in accordance with applicable Guernsey law and regulations.
Guernsey company law requires the Directors to prepare
financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, they
have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and applicable
law.
The
Financial Statements are required by law to give a true and fair
view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit or
loss of the Company for that period.
In
preparing these financial statements, the Directors are required
to:
- select
suitable accounting policies and then apply them
consistently;
- make
judgements and estimates that are reasonable and
prudent;
- state
whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject
to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial
statements; and
- prepare
the Financial Statements on the going concern basis unless it is
inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in
business.
The
Directors confirm that they have complied with these requirements
in preparing the financial statements.
The
Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records
which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial
position of the Company and to enable them to ensure that the
financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with
The Companies (Guernsey) Law,
2008. They are responsible for such internal control as they
determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial
statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to
fraud or error, and have general responsibility for taking such
steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the
Company and to prevent and detect fraud and other
irregularities.
The
Directors are responsible for the oversight of the maintenance and
integrity of the corporate and financial information in relation to
the Company website; the work carried out by the auditor does not
involve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the
auditor accepts no responsibility for any changes that may have
occurred to the financial statements since they were initially
presented on the website.
Legislation
in Guernsey governing the
preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ
from legislation in other jurisdictions.
The
Directors confirm that to the best of their knowledge:
(a)
The
Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with IFRS and
give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial
position and profit or loss of the Company as at and for the year
ended 31 March 2024; and
(b)
The Annual
Report includes information detailed in the Corporate Information,
Summary Information, Chair’s Statement, Portfolio Manager’s Report,
Top Twenty Holdings, Board Members, Disclosure of Directorships in
Public Companies Listed on Recognised Stock Exchanges, Strategic
Report, Directors’ Report, Statement of Directors’
Responsibilities, Directors’ Remuneration Report, Audit Committee
Report, Alternative Investment Fund Manager’s Report and Depositary
Statement and provides a fair review of the information required
by:
(i)
DTR 4.1.8
and DTR 4.1.9 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, being a
fair review of the Company business and a description of the
principal risks and uncertainties facing the Company;
and
(ii)
DTR
4.1.11 of the Disclosure and
Transparency Rules, being an indication of important events that
have occurred since the end of the financial year and the likely
future development of the Company.
In the
opinion of the Board, the Financial Statements taken as a whole,
are fair, balanced and understandable and provide the information
necessary to assess the Company’s performance, business model and
strategy.
By order
of the Board
Bronwyn Curtis John
Le Poidevin
Director Director
10 July 2024
DIRECTORS’
REMUNERATION
REPORT
The
Directors' Remuneration Report has been prepared on behalf of the
Directors in accordance with the UK Code as issued by the UK
Listing Authority. An ordinary resolution for the approval of the
annual remuneration report will be put to the Shareholders at the
AGM to be held on 12 September 2024.
Remuneration
Policy
The
Company's policy in regard to Directors' remuneration is to ensure
that the Company maintains a competitive fee structure in order to
recruit, retain and motivate non-executive Directors of excellent
quality in the overall interests of Shareholders.
It is the
responsibility of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee to
determine and approve the Directors' fees, who will have given the
matter proper consideration, having regard to the level of fees
payable to non-executive Directors in the industry generally, the
role that individual Directors fulfil in respect of Board and
Committee responsibilities and the time committed to the Company's
affairs. The Chair's remuneration is decided and approved
separately by the Board as a whole.
No element
of the Directors' remuneration is performance related, nor does any
Director have any entitlement to pensions, share options or any
long-term incentive plans from the Company.
Remuneration
The
Directors of the Company are remunerated for their services at such
a rate as the Directors determine, provided that aggregate amount
of such fees does not exceed £400,000 per annum.
Directors
are remunerated in the form of fees, payable quarterly in arrears,
to the Director personally. No Directors have been paid additional
remuneration outside the normal Directors’ fees and
expenses.
In the
year ended 31 March 2024, the
Directors received the following annual remuneration in the form of
Directors’ fees:
|
Total fees
(£)
|
Bronwyn
Curtis
|
60,000
|
John
Le
Poidevin
|
50,000
|
Richard
Burwood¹
|
19,217
|
John
de
Garis
|
42,000
|
Joanne
Fintzen
|
42,000
|
Paul
Le
Page²
|
41,087
|
|
254,304
|
¹
Richard Burwood resigned from the
Board and as Chair of the Management Engagement Committee on
14 September 2023.
²
Paul Le Page was appointed as Chair
of the Management Engagement Committee on 14
September 2023.
During the
year, the annual fees were £60,000 for the Chair of the Board,
£50,000 for the Audit Committee Chair, £42,000 for the Senior
Independent Director, the Chair of the Remuneration and Nomination
Committee and the Chair of the Management Engagement Committee, and
£40,000 for all other Directors.
Effective
1 April 2024, the annual fees were
increased to £75,000 for the Chair of the Board, £60,000 for the
Audit Committee Chair, £50,000 for the Senior Independent Director,
the Chair of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee and Chair of
the Management Engagement Committee, and £48,000 for all other
Directors.
Directors'
and Officers’ liability insurance cover is maintained by the
Company on behalf of the Directors.
The
Directors were appointed as non-executive Directors by letters of
appointment. Each Director’s appointment letter provides that, upon
the termination of his/her appointment, he/she must resign in
writing and all records remain the property of the Company. The
Directors’ appointments can be terminated in accordance with the
Articles and without compensation. There is no notice period
specified in the Articles for the removal of Directors. The
Articles provide that the office of Director shall be terminated
by, among other things: (a) written resignation;
(b) unauthorised
absences from Board meetings for six months or more; (c) unanimous
written request of the other directors; and (d) an ordinary
resolution of the Company.
Under the
terms of their appointment, each Director is required to seek
re-election on an annual basis. At the 14
September 2023 Annual General Meeting, all Directors were
re-elected to the Board, except Richard
Burwood, who retired. The Company may terminate the
appointment of a Director immediately on serving written notice and
no compensation is payable upon termination of office as a director
of the Company becoming effective.
The
amounts payable
to
Directors shown in note 15 were for services as non-executive
Directors.
No
Director has a service contract with the Company, nor are any such
contracts proposed.
Signed on
behalf of the Board of Directors on 10 July
2024 by:
John de Garis Bronwyn
Curtis
Chair,
Remuneration and Nomination Committee Director
AUDIT
COMMITTEE REPORT
Below, we
present the Audit Committee's Report, setting out the
responsibilities of the Audit Committee and its key activities for
the year ended 31 March
2024.
The Audit
Committee has continued its scrutiny of the appropriateness of the
Company’s system of risk management and internal controls, the
robustness and integrity of the Company’s financial reporting, and
the external audit process. The Committee has devoted time to
ensuring that the internal financial and operating controls and
processes have been properly established, documented and
implemented.
During the
course of the year, the information that the Audit Committee has
received has been timely and clear and has enabled the Audit
Committee to discharge its duties effectively.
The Audit
Committee operates within the principles of the UK Code and the
best practice recommendations of other corporate governance
organisations such as the AIC, and believes that reporting against
the revised AIC Code allows the Audit Committee to further
strengthen its role as a key independent oversight
Committee.
Role
and Responsibilities
The
primary function of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board in
fulfilling its oversight responsibilities. This includes reviewing
the financial reports and other financial information and any
significant financial judgement contained therein, before
publication.
In
addition, the Audit Committee reviews the systems of internal
financial and operating controls on a continuing basis that the
Administrator, Portfolio Manager, AIFM, and Custodian Depositary
and the Board have established with respect to accounting, risk
management, compliance, fraud and audit seeking reasonable
assurance that such systems meet relevant legal and regulatory
requirements. The Audit Committee also reviews the accounting and
financial reporting processes, along with reviewing the role,
independence and effectiveness of the external auditor.
The
ultimate responsibility for reviewing and approving the Annual and
Interim Financial Statements remains with the Board.
The Audit
Committee's full terms of reference can be obtained by contacting
the Company's Administrator.
Risk
Management and Internal Control
The Board,
as a whole, considers the nature and extent of the Company’s risk
management framework and the risk profile that is acceptable in
order to achieve the Company’s strategic objectives. As a result,
it is considered that the Board has fulfilled its obligations under
the AIC Code.
The Audit
Committee continues to be responsible for reviewing the adequacy
and effectiveness of the Company’s ongoing risk management systems
and processes. The Company’s system of internal controls, along
with its design and operating effectiveness, is subject to review
by the Audit Committee through reports received from the Portfolio
Manager, AIFM and Custodian and Depositary, along with those from
the Administrator and external auditor.
Fraud,
Bribery and Corruption
The Audit
Committee, in conjunction with the Management Engagement Committee,
have relied on the overarching requirement placed on service
providers under the relevant agreements to comply with applicable
law, including anti-bribery laws. A review of service provider
policies took place at the Management Engagement Committee Meeting,
held on 14 September 2023. The Board
receives regular confirmation from all Service Providers that there
has been no fraud, bribery or corruption.
Financial
Reporting and Significant Financial Issues
The Audit
Committee assesses whether suitable accounting policies have been
adopted and whether the Portfolio Manager has made appropriate
estimates and judgements. The Audit Committee reviews accounting
papers prepared by the Portfolio Manager and Administrator which
provide details on the main financial reporting
judgements.
The Audit
Committee also reviews reports by the external auditor which
highlight any issues with respect to the work undertaken on the
audit.
During the
year, the Financial Reporting Council ("FRC") reviewed the
Company's Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for the
year ended 31 March 2023 and, on the
basis of their review, have raised no questions or queries thereon
at present. They did note, however, that disclosures in relation to
the description of the fair value techniques used to determine the
fair values for some of the Level 3 investments could be improved
and we have made additional disclosure thereon in note 19 of the
Notes to the Financial Statements.
The FRC
notes that its review does not provide assurance that the Annual
Report and Audited Financial Statements are correct in all material
respects and that its role is not to verify the information
provided but to consider compliance with reporting
requirements.
The
significant issues considered during the year by the Audit
Committee in relation to the Financial Statements and how they were
addressed are detailed below:
(i)
Valuation of investments:
The
Company’s investments had a fair value of £813,356,415 as at
31 March 2024 (31 March 2023: £739,385,970), which represents a
substantial portion of the net assets of the Company. As such, this
is the largest factor in relation to the consideration of the
Financial Statements. These investments are valued in accordance
with the accounting policies set out in note 2 to the Financial
Statements. Through
regular reporting during the year by the Portfolio Manager, AIFM,
Administrator, Custodian and Depositary, the Audit Committee
received information on the sources of price information and
robustness and reliability of the valuation process, as part of its
consideration as to the reasonableness of the valuation of the
investments held by the Company as at 31
March 2024.
(ii)
Income recognition:
The Audit
Committee considered the calculation of income from investments
recorded in the Financial Statements as at 31 March 2024. As disclosed in note 3(ii)(b) of
the Notes to the Financial Statements, the estimated life of ABS is
determined by the Portfolio Manager, impacting the effective
interest rate of the ABS which in turn impacts the calculation of
income from investments. The Audit Committee reviewed the Portfolio
Manager's process for determining the expected life of the
Company's investments and found it to be reasonable based on the
explanations provided and information obtained from the Portfolio
Manager.
Following
a review of the presentations and reports from the Portfolio
Manager and Administrator and consulting where necessary with the
external auditor, the Audit Committee considers that the Financial
Statements appropriately address the critical judgements and key
estimates (both in respect to the amounts reported and the
disclosures). The Audit Committee has also appropriately
scrutinised the significant assumptions used for determining the
value of assets and liabilities and, having reviewed the content of
the Annual Report and Financial Statements, has recommended them to
the Board on the basis that, taken as a whole, they are fair,
balanced and understandable and provide the information necessary
for Shareholders to assess the Company’s position and performance,
business model and strategy.
At the
request of the Audit Committee, the Administrator confirmed that it
was not aware of any material misstatements including matters
relating to Financial Statement presentation. At the Audit
Committee meeting to review the Annual Report and Audited Financial
Statements, the Audit Committee received and reviewed a report on
the audit from the external auditor. On the basis of its review of
this report, the Audit Committee is satisfied that the external
auditor has fulfilled its responsibilities with diligence and
professional scepticism.
Going
Concern
The going
concern basis can be found in the Directors’ Report.
External
Auditor
The Audit
Committee has primary responsibility for the effectiveness of the
external audit process and for making recommendations to the Board
on the appointment, independence, reappointment or removal of the
external auditor and the planning, scope, quality of performance
and cost effectiveness of the external audit process. The Audit
Committee reviews and approves the external audit plan in advance
of the audit and ensures throughout the year that any non-audit
services proposed to be performed by the external auditor are in
accordance with the Company’s policy on the provision of non-audit
services. The Company’s non-audit services policy is set out in
full in the Audit Committee’s terms of reference. The external
audit plan includes an analysis of the key audit risks and
calculations of audit materiality which the Audit Committee
considers in forming its assessment of key risks to the Audit
Company’s financial statements.
To assess
the effectiveness of the external audit, members of the Audit
Committee work closely with the Portfolio Manager and the
Administrator to obtain a good understanding of the progress and
efficiency of the audit. In particular, the Audit Committee reviews
the following areas:
• the
quality of the audit engagement partner and the audit
team;
• the
expertise of the audit firm and the resources available to
it;
• identification
of areas of audit risk;
• planning,
scope and execution of the audit;
• consideration
of the appropriateness of the level of audit materiality
adopted;
• the
role of the Audit Committee, the Administrator, the Portfolio
Manager and third-party service providers in an effective audit
process;
• communications
by the Auditor with the Audit Committee; and
• how
the Auditor supports the work of the Audit Committee and how the
audit contributes added value.
Feedback
in relation to the audit process and the effectiveness of the
Portfolio Manager and Administrator in performing their roles is
also sought from relevant parties, notably the audit partner and
team. The Auditor attends Audit Committee meetings on at least two
occasions at which they have the opportunity to meet with the Audit
Committee without representatives of the Portfolio Manager or
Administrator being present. The effectiveness of the Board, the
Administrator and the Portfolio Manager in the external audit
process is assessed principally in relation to the timely
identification and resolution of any process errors or control
breaches that might impact the Company’s net asset values and
accounting records. It is also assessed by reference to how
successfully any issues in respect of areas of accounting judgement
are identified and resolved, the quality and timeliness of papers
analysing these judgements, the Administrator’s approach to the
value of independent audit and the booking of any audit adjustments
arising, and the timely provision of draft public documents for
review by the Auditor and the Audit Committee.
During the
year, the Audit Committee performed its annual review of the
independence, effectiveness and objectivity of the external
auditor, in accordance with the FRC’s Revised Ethical Standard,
2019.
On a
semi-annual basis, the auditor reports the independence of its
relationship with the Company and reports to the Audit Committee.
As part of this review, the Audit Committee also receives
information about policies and processes for maintaining
independence and monitoring compliance with relevant requirements
from the Company’s Auditor, including information on the rotation
of audit partners and staff, the level of fees that the Company
pays in proportion to the overall fee income of the firm, and the
level of related fees, details of any relationships between the
audit firm and its staff and the Company as well as an overall
confirmation from the Auditor of its independence and
objectivity.
The
Company does not utilise the external auditor for internal audit
purposes, secondments or valuation advice. Other services which do
not compromise auditor independence must be pre-approved by the
Audit Committee.
The
following tables summarise the remuneration paid to KPMG and other
KPMG member firms for audit and non-audit services during the year
ended 31 March 2024. For the year
ended 31 March 2023,
remuneration was made to Pricewaterhouse Coopers CI LLP (“PwC”) and
its member firms for these services.
|
|
|
|
|
01.04.23
to 31.03.24
|
01.04.22
to 31.03.23
|
KPMG
Channel Islands Limited - Assurance work
|
£
|
£
|
- Annual
audit (2023: PwC)
|
|
|
156,000
|
141,050
|
- Interim
review (2023: PwC)
|
|
|
35,000
|
37,850
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ratio
of audit to non-audit work
|
|
|
1
: 0.22
|
1
: 0.26
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
During the
year ended 31 March 2023, the Audit
Committee conducted a tender process for the position of external
auditor. A request for proposal was sent to suitably qualified
audit firms which in line with best practice included one
“challenger” audit firm, and a rigorous interview process was
conducted for those firms that tendered. The Board nominated KPMG
at the AGM in 14 September 2023 to be
appointed external auditor and a motion to approve their
appointment was accepted by the Shareholders on whether to approve
their appointment.
For any
questions on the activities of the Audit Committee not addressed in
the foregoing, a member of the Audit Committee remains available to
attend each AGM to respond to such questions.
The Audit
Committee Report was approved by the Audit Committee on
10 July 2024 and signed on behalf
by:
John Le Poidevin
Chair,
Audit Committee
10 July 2024
ALTERNATIVE
INVESTMENT FUND MANAGER’S REPORT
Apex
Fundrock Limited (previously called Maitland Institutional Services
Ltd) acts as the Alternative Investment Fund Manager (“AIFM”) of
TwentyFour Income Fund Limited (“the Company”) providing portfolio
management and risk management services to the Company.
The AIFM has delegated the
following of its alternative investment fund management
functions:
-
It has delegated the
portfolio management function for listed investments to TwentyFour
Asset Management LLP.
-
It has delegated the
portfolio management function for unlisted investments to
TwentyFour Asset Management LLP.
The AIFM is required by
the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive 2011, 61/EU (the
“AIFM Directive”) and all applicable rules and regulations
implementing the AIFM Directive in the UK (the “AIFM”
Rules):
-
to make the annual report
available to investors and to ensure that the annual report is
prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards, the
Company’s articles of incorporation and the AIFM Rules and that the
annual report is audited in accordance with International Standards
on Auditing;
-
be responsible for the
proper valuation of the Company’s assets, the calculation of the
Company’s net asset value and the publication of the Company’s net
asset value;
-
to make available to the
Company’s Shareholders, a description of all fees, charges and
expenses and the amounts thereof, which have been directly or
indirectly borne by them; and
-
ensure that the Company’s
Shareholders have the ability to redeem their share in the capital
of the Company in a manner consistent with the principle of fair
treatment of investors under the AIFM Rules and in accordance with
the Company’s redemption policy and its
obligations.
The AIFM
is required to ensure that the annual report contains a report that
shall include a fair and balanced review of the activities and
performance of the Company, containing also a description of the
principal risks and investment or economic uncertainties that the
Company might face.
AIFM
Remuneration
The AIFM
is subject to a staff remuneration policy which meets the
requirements of the AIFM Directive. The policy is designed to
ensure remuneration practices are consistent with, and promote,
sound and effective risk management. It does not encourage
risk-taking which is inconsistent with the risk profiles, rules or
instrument of incorporation of the funds managed, and does not
impair the AIFM’s compliance with its duty to act in the best
interests of the funds it manages.
The AIFM
has reviewed the Remuneration Policy and its application in the
last year which has resulted in no material changes to the policy
or irregularities to process.
This
disclosure does not include staff undertaking portfolio management
activities as these are undertaken by TwentyFour Asset Management
LLP. The Portfolio Manager is required to make separate public
disclosure as part of their obligations under the Capital
Requirements Directive.
The AIFM
also acts as Authorised Corporate Director (“ACD”) for
non-Alternative Investment Funds (“AIFs”). It is required to
disclose the total remuneration it pays to its staff during the
financial year of the Company, split into fixed and variable
remuneration, with separate aggregate disclosure for staff whose
actions may have a material impact to the risk profile of a fund or
the AIFM itself. This includes executives, senior risk and
compliance staff and certain senior managers.
|
Number of
Beneficiaries
|
Fixed
|
Variable
|
Total
remuneration paid by the ACD during the year
|
17
|
£1,515,952
|
£152,522
|
Remuneration
paid to employees of the ACD who are material risk
takers
|
6
|
£737,201
|
£115,817
|
Further
information is available in the AIFM’s Remuneration Policy
Statement which can be obtained from
www.fundrock.com or, on
request free of charge, by writing to the registered office of the
AIFM.
In so far
as the AIFM is aware:
-
there is no relevant audit
information of which the auditor of the Company or the Board of
Directors of the Company are unaware; and
-
the AIFM has taken all
steps that it ought to have taken to make itself aware of any
relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is
aware of that information.
We hereby
certify that this report is made on behalf of the AIFM, Apex
Fundrock Limited.
A.C.
Deptford
P.F.
Brickley
Directors
Apex
Fundrock Limited
10 July 2024
REPORT
OF THE DEPOSITARY TO THE SHAREHOLDERS
for the
year ended 31 March 2024
Northern
Trust (Guernsey) Limited has been
appointed as Depositary to TwentyFour Income Fund Limited (the
“Company”) in accordance with the requirements of Article 36 and
Articles 21(7), (8) and (9) of the Directive 2011/61/EU of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 8
June 2011 on Alternative Investment Fund Managers and
amending Directives 2003/41/EC and 2009/65/EC and Regulations (EC)
No 1060/2009 and (EU) No 1095/2010 (the “AIFM
Directive”).
We have
enquired into the conduct of Apex Fundrock Limited (previously
called Maitland Institutional Services Limited) (the “AIFM”) and
the Company for the year ended 31 March
2024, in our capacity as Depositary to the
Company.
This
report including the review provided below has been prepared for
and solely for the Shareholders in the Company. We do not, in
giving this report, accept or assume responsibility for any other
purpose or to any other person to whom this report is
shown.
Our
obligations as Depositary are stipulated in the relevant provisions
of the AIFM Directive and the relevant sections of Commission
Delegated Regulation (EU) No 231/2013 (collectively the “AIFMD
legislation”) and The Authorised Closed Ended Investment Schemes
Rules 2021.
Amongst
these obligations is the requirement to enquire into the conduct of
the AIFM and the Company and their delegates in each annual
accounting period.
Our report
shall state whether, in our view, the Company has been managed in
that period in accordance with the AIFMD legislation. It is the
overall responsibility of the AIFM and the Company to comply with
these provisions. If the AIFM, the Company or their delegates have
not so complied, we as the Depositary will state why this is the
case and outline the steps which we have taken to rectify the
situation.
The
Depositary and its affiliates are or may be involved in other
financial and professional activities which may on occasion cause a
conflict of interest with its roles with respect to the Company.
The Depositary will take reasonable care to ensure that the
performance of its duties will not be impaired by any such
involvement and that any conflicts which may arise will be resolved
fairly and any transactions between the Depositary and its
affiliates and the Company shall be carried out as if effected on
normal commercial terms negotiated at arm’s length and in the best
interests of Shareholders.
Basis
of Depositary Review
The
Depositary conducts such reviews as it, in its reasonable
discretion, considers necessary in order to comply with its
obligations and to ensure that, in all material respects, the
Company has been managed (i) in accordance with the limitations
imposed on its investment and borrowing powers by the provisions of
its constitutional documentation and the appropriate regulations
and (ii) otherwise in accordance with the constitutional
documentation and the appropriate regulations. Such reviews vary
based on the type of Fund, the assets in which a Fund invests and
the processes used, or experts required, in order to value such
assets.
Review
In our
view, the Company has been managed during the year, in all material
respects:
(i) in
accordance with the limitations imposed on the investment and
borrowing powers of the Company by the constitutional documents;
and by the AIFMD legislation; and
(ii)
otherwise in accordance with the provisions of the constitutional
documents; and the AIFMD legislation.
For
and on behalf of
Northern
Trust (Guernsey)
Limited
10 July 2024
INDEPENDENT
AUDITOR’S REPORT
TO THE
MEMBERS OF TWENTYFOUR INCOME FUND LIMITED
Our
opinion is unmodified
We have
audited the
financial statements of
TwentyFour Income Fund Limited (the
“Company”), which comprise the statement of financial position as
at 31 March 2024, the
statements of comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash
flows for the year then ended, and notes, comprising material
accounting policies and other explanatory information.
In
our opinion, the accompanying financial
statements:
-
give a
true and fair view of the financial position of the Company as at
31 March 2024, and of the Company’s
financial performance and cash flows for
the year then ended;
-
are
prepared in accordance with International
Financial Reporting Standards; and comply with the Companies
(Guernsey) Law, 2008.
Basis
for opinion
We
conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on
Auditing (UK) (“ISAs (UK)”) and applicable law. Our
responsibilities are described below. We have fulfilled our ethical
responsibilities under, and are independent of
the Company
in accordance with, UK ethical requirements including the FRC
Ethical Standard as required by the Crown Dependencies' Audit Rules
and Guidance. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained
is a sufficient and appropriate basis for our opinion.
Key
audit matters: our assessment of the risks of material
misstatement
Key audit
matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were
of most significance in the audit of the financial
statements and include the most significant assessed risks of
material misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) identified by
us, including those which had the greatest effect on: the overall
audit strategy; the allocation of resources in the audit; and
directing the efforts of the engagement team. These matters were
addressed in the context of our audit of the financial
statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we
do not provide a separate opinion on these
matters. In
arriving at our audit opinion above, the key
audit matter
was as follows:
|
The risk
|
Our response
|
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss -
Investments (“investments”)
|
Valuation of investments
|
Our audit procedures
included:
|
£813,356,415 (2023:
£739,385,970)
Refer to
the Audit Committee Report, note 2(f) (significant accounting
policies), note 9 (investments) and note 19 (fair value
measurement).
|
Basis:
The
Company’s investments are carried at fair value through profit or
loss and represent a significant proportion of the Company’s net
assets.
These
investments are valued using recognised valuation methodologies
disclosed in note 2(f) of the financial statements.
Risk:
The
valuation of the Company’s investments is considered a significant
area of our audit in view of the significance of the estimates and
judgements that may be involved in the determination of their fair
value and given that it represents the majority of the net
assets.
To
determine the valuation of investments, the Portfolio Manager
requests external prices from independent pricing vendors or, where
these are unavailable, from third party brokers or dealers. Where
the external price obtained is deemed unreliable or is not
available, the Portfolio Manager will determine, with the
assistance of an independent valuation expert, the valuation based
on internal models, which may include benchmarking to comparable
transactions, discounted cash flows or other valuation techniques
commonly used by market participants.
For those
investments valued based on internal models there is a risk of
fraud and error given the high level of subjectivity, estimation
uncertainty and complexity when deriving fair value.
|
Control evaluation:
We
assessed the design and implementation of the control over the
valuation of the Company’s investments.
Challenging
management’s investment valuations, including the use of our KPMG
valuation specialist, as applicable, we:
-
Held
discussions with the Investment Manager to understand and assess
the appropriateness of the valuation methodologies
applied;
-
Performed
retrospective testing on realised positions to assess the
reliability and accuracy of management’s valuations and for any
evidence of valuation bias;
-
Assessed
the experience, competence, objectivity and reliability of work of
the independent valuation expert appointed by the Company to
provide valuations of certain investments where no reliable price
was deemed available;
-
For the
Company’s investments which are valued using observable inputs
(level 2), we assessed whether the prices used by management were
reasonable by comparing them against the indicative or reference
prices obtained from independent sources;
-
For a risk
based selection of the Company’s investments which are valued using
significant unobservable inputs (including internal models), we
determined independent reference prices through the use of
fundamental cash flow modelling, sourcing key inputs and
assumptions used, such as the default rates, discount margins and
prepayment rates, from observable market data; and
-
Assessed
the fair value levelling of the investments held by the Company at
year-end.
Assessing disclosures:
We also
considered the Company’s accounting policy (see note 2(f)) in
relation to the use of estimates and judgements in determining the
fair value of Investments, the Company’s investment valuation
policies and fair value disclosures (see notes 2(f), 9 and 19) for
compliance with IFRS.
|
Our
application of materiality and an overview of the scope of our
audit
Materiality
for the financial
statements as a whole was set at £15,300,000, determined with
reference to a benchmark of net
assets of
£813,539,986, of which it represents approximately 2.0% (2023:
2.25%).
In line
with our audit methodology, our procedures on individual account
balances and disclosures were performed to a lower threshold,
performance materiality, so as to reduce to an acceptable level the
risk that individually immaterial misstatements in individual
account balances add up to a material amount across the financial
statements as a whole. Performance materiality for the Company was
set at 65% (2023: 75%) of materiality for the financial statements
as a whole, which equates to £9,940,000. We applied this percentage
in our determination of performance materiality because we did not
identify any factors indicating an elevated level of
risk.
We
reported to the Audit Committee any corrected or uncorrected
identified misstatements exceeding £765,000, in addition to other
identified misstatements that warranted reporting on qualitative
grounds.
Our audit
of the Company was
undertaken to the materiality level specified above, which has
informed our identification of significant risks of material
misstatement and the associated audit procedures performed in those
areas as detailed above.
Going
concern
The
directors have prepared the financial statements on the going
concern basis as they do not intend to liquidate the Company or to
cease its operations, and as they have concluded that the Company's
financial position means that this is realistic. They have also
concluded that there are no material uncertainties that could have
cast significant doubt over its ability to continue as a going
concern for at least a year from the date of approval of the
financial statements (the “going concern period").
In our
evaluation of the directors' conclusions, we considered the
inherent risks to the Company's business model and analysed how
those risks might affect the Company's financial resources or
ability to continue operations over the going concern period. The
risks that we considered most likely to affect the Company's
financial resources or ability to continue operations over this
period was the availability of capital to meet operating costs and
other financial commitments.
We
considered whether this risk could plausibly affect the liquidity
in the going concern period by comparing severe, but plausible
downside scenarios that could arise from this risk individually and
collectively against the level of available financial resources
indicated by the Company’s financial forecasts.
Our
conclusions based on this work:
•
we
consider that the directors' use of the going concern basis of
accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is
appropriate;
•
we have
not identified, and concur with the directors' assessment that
there is not, a material uncertainty related to events or
conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant
doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern for
the going concern period; and
•
we have
nothing material to add or draw attention to in relation to the
directors' statement in the notes to the financial statements on
the use of the going concern basis of accounting with no material
uncertainties that may cast significant doubt over the Company's
use of that basis for the going concern period, and that statement
is materially consistent with the financial statements and our
audit knowledge.
However,
as we cannot predict all future events or conditions and as
subsequent events may result in outcomes that are inconsistent with
judgements that were reasonable at the time they were made, the
above conclusions are not a guarantee that the Company will
continue in operation.
Fraud
and breaches of laws and regulations – ability to
detect
Identifying and responding to risks of material
misstatement due to fraud
To
identify risks of material misstatement due to fraud (“fraud
risks”) we assessed events or conditions that could indicate an
incentive or pressure to commit fraud or provide an opportunity to
commit fraud. Our risk assessment procedures included:
•
enquiring
of management as to the Company’s policies and procedures to
prevent and detect fraud as well as enquiring whether management
have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged
fraud;
•
reading
minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
and
•
using
analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected
relationships.
As
required by auditing standards, and taking into account possible
incentives or pressures to misstate performance and our overall
knowledge of the control environment, we perform procedures to
address the risk of management override of controls, in particular
the risk that management may be in a position to make inappropriate
accounting entries, and the risk of bias in accounting estimates
such as valuation of unquoted investments. On this audit we do not
believe there is a fraud risk related to revenue recognition
because the Company’s revenue streams are simple in nature with
respect to accounting policy choice, and are easily verifiable to
external data sources or agreements with little or no requirement
for estimation from management. We did not identify any additional
fraud risks.
We
performed procedures including:
•
identifying
journal entries and other adjustments to test based on risk
criteria and comparing any identified entries to supporting
documentation;
•
incorporating
an element of unpredictability in our audit procedures;
and
•
assessing
significant accounting estimates for bias.
Further
detail in respect of valuation of unquoted investments is set out
in the key audit matter section of this report.
Identifying
and responding to risks of material misstatement due to
non-compliance with laws and regulations
We
identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be
expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from
our sector experience and through discussion with management (as
required by auditing standards), and from inspection of the
Company’s regulatory and legal correspondence, if any, and
discussed with management the policies and procedures regarding
compliance with laws and regulations. As the Company is regulated,
our assessment of risks involved gaining an understanding of the
control environment including the entity’s procedures for complying
with regulatory requirements.
The
Company is subject to laws and regulations that directly affect the
financial statements including financial reporting legislation and
taxation legislation and we assessed the extent of compliance with
these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related
financial statement items.
The
Company is subject to other laws and regulations where the
consequences of non-compliance could have a material effect on
amounts or disclosures in the financial statements, for instance
through the imposition of fines or litigation or impacts on the
Company’s ability to operate. We identified financial services
regulation as being the area most likely to have such an effect,
recognising the regulated nature of the Company’s activities and
its legal form. Auditing standards limit the required audit
procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and
regulations to enquiry of management and inspection of regulatory
and legal correspondence, if any. Therefore if a breach of
operational regulations is not disclosed to us or evident from
relevant correspondence, an audit will not detect that
breach.
Context
of the ability of the audit to detect fraud or breaches of law or
regulation
Owing to
the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk
that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the
financial statements, even though we have properly planned and
performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For
example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and
regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the
financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited
procedures required by auditing standards would identify
it.
In
addition, as with any audit, there remains a higher risk of
non-detection of fraud, as this may involve collusion, forgery,
intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of
internal controls. Our audit procedures are designed to detect
material misstatement. We are not responsible for preventing
non-compliance or fraud and cannot be expected to detect
non-compliance with all laws and regulations.
Other
information
The
directors are
responsible for the other information. The other information
comprises the information included in the annual
report but
does not include the
financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. Our opinion
on the financial statements does not cover the other information
and we do not express an audit opinion or any form of assurance
conclusion thereon.
In
connection with our audit of the financial
statements, our responsibility is to read the other information
and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is
materially inconsistent with the financial
statements or
our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be
materially misstated. If,
based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a
material misstatement of this other information, we are required to
report that fact. We have nothing to report in this
regard.
Disclosures
of emerging and principal risks and longer term
viability
We are
required to perform procedures to identify whether there is a
material inconsistency between the directors’ disclosures in
respect of emerging and principal risks and the viability
statement, and the financial statements and our
audit knowledge. We have nothing material to add or draw attention
to in relation to:
•
the
directors’ confirmation within the viability statement (Directors’
Report) that they have carried out a robust assessment of the
emerging and principal risks facing the Company, including those
that would threaten its business model, future performance,
solvency or liquidity;
•
the
emerging and principal risks disclosures describing these risks and
explaining how they are being managed or mitigated;
•
the
directors’ explanation in the viability
statement (Directors’ Report) as to how they have assessed the
prospects of the Company, over what period they have done so and
why they consider that period to be appropriate, and their
statement as to whether they have a reasonable expectation that the
Company will be able to continue in operation and meet its
liabilities as they fall due over the period of their assessment,
including any related disclosures drawing attention to any
necessary qualifications or assumptions.
We are
also required to review the viability statement, set out in the
Directors’ Report under the Listing Rules. Based
on the above procedures, we have concluded that the above
disclosures are materially consistent with the financial statements
and our audit knowledge.
Corporate
governance disclosures
We are
required to perform procedures to identify whether there is a
material inconsistency between the directors’ corporate governance
disclosures and the financial statements and our audit
knowledge.
Based on
those procedures, we have concluded that each of the following is
materially consistent with the financial statements and our audit
knowledge:
•
the
directors’ statement that they consider that the annual report and
financial statements taken as a whole is fair, balanced and
understandable, and provides the information necessary for
shareholders to assess the Company’s position and performance,
business model and strategy;
•
the
section of the annual report describing the work of the Audit
Committee, including the significant issues that the audit
committee considered in relation to the financial statements, and
how these issues were addressed; and
•
the
section of the annual report that describes the review of the
effectiveness of the Company’s risk management and internal control
systems.
We are
required to review the part of Corporate Governance Statement
relating to the Company’s compliance with the provisions of the UK
Corporate Governance Code specified by the Listing Rules for our
review. We have nothing to report in this
respect.
We have
nothing to report on other matters on which we are required to
report by exception
We have
nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the
Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008
requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
•
the
Company has not kept proper accounting records; or
•
the financial
statements are not in agreement with the accounting records;
or
•
we have
not received all the information and explanations, which to the
best of our knowledge and belief are necessary for the purpose of
our audit.
Respective
responsibilitiesDirectors'
responsibilities
As
explained more fully in their statement set out in the Directors’
Report, the directors
are responsible for: the preparation of the financial
statements including being satisfied that they give a true and fair
view; such internal control as they determine is necessary to
enable the preparation of financial
statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to
fraud or error; assessing the Company’s ability to continue as a
going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going
concern; and using the going concern basis of accounting unless
they either intend to liquidate the Company or to cease operations,
or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor's
responsibilities
Our
objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
the financial
statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether
due to fraud or error, and to issue our opinion in an auditor’s
report. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but does
not guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK)
will always detect a material misstatement when it exists.
Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered
material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be
expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the
basis of the financial statements.
A fuller
description of our responsibilities is provided on the FRC’s
website at
www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.
The
purpose of this report and restrictions on its use by persons other
than the Company's members as a body
This
report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in
accordance with section 262 of the Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008. Our
audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the
Company’s members
those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s
report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by
law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than
the Company and
the Company’s members, as a body, for our audit work, for this
report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Rachid
Frihmat
For
and on behalf of KPMG Channel Islands Limited
Chartered
Accountants and Recognised Auditors
Guernsey
10 July 2024
STATEMENT
OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
for the
year ended 31 March 2024
|
|
Year
ended
|
|
Year
ended
|
|
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
|
|
Notes
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
Income
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
income on financial assets at
fair value through profit or loss
|
|
74,803,793
|
|
64,542,727
|
|
Net
foreign
currency
gains/(losses)
|
8
|
15,368,676
|
|
(8,837,545)
|
|
Net
gains/(losses)
on
financial
assets at
fair
value
through
profit
or
loss
|
9
|
53,903,533
|
|
(70,193,539)
|
|
Total
income/(loss)
|
|
144,076,002
|
|
(14,488,357)
|
|
Operating
expenses
|
|
|
|
|
|
Portfolio
management
fees
|
15
|
(5,690,248)
|
|
(5,034,036)
|
|
Directors'
fees
|
15
|
(254,304)
|
|
(261,684)
|
|
Administration
and
secretarial
fees
|
16
|
(358,119)
|
|
(323,483)
|
|
Audit
fees
|
|
(156,000)
|
|
(141,050)
|
|
Custody
fees
|
16
|
(75,874)
|
|
(67,120)
|
|
Broker
fees
|
|
(50,002)
|
|
(50,521)
|
|
AIFM
management
fees
|
16
|
(257,384)
|
|
(231,363)
|
|
Depositary
fees
|
16
|
(102,283)
|
|
(91,401)
|
|
Legal
and
professional
fees
|
|
(76,103)
|
|
(161,234)
|
|
Listing
fees
|
|
(25,000)
|
|
(64,855)
|
|
Registration
fees
|
|
(64,792)
|
|
(46,174)
|
|
Other
expenses
|
|
(195,940)
|
|
(355,807)
|
|
Total
operating
expenses
|
|
(7,306,049)
|
|
(6,828,728)
|
|
Total
operating
profit/(loss)
|
|
136,769,953
|
|
(21,317,085)
|
|
Finance
costs
on
repurchase
agreements
|
12
|
(755,788)
|
|
(1,278,260)
|
|
Total
comprehensive
income/(loss)
for
the
year*
|
|
136,014,165
|
|
(22,595,345)
|
|
Earnings/(loss)
per
Ordinary
Share
|
4
|
0.1825
|
|
(0.0340)
|
|
All items
in the above statement derive from continuing
operations.
The
accompanying notes form an integral part of these Financial
Statements.
*There is
no other comprehensive income during the current and prior
year.
STATEMENT
OF FINANCIAL POSITION
as at
31 March 2024
|
Notes
|
31.03.2024
£
|
|
31.03.2023
£
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
assets
at
fair
value
through
profit
or
loss
|
|
|
|
|
-
Investments
|
9
|
813,356,415
|
|
739,385,970
|
-
Derivative
assets:
Forward
currency
contracts
|
18
|
1,958,943
|
|
2,281,253
|
Amounts
due
from
broker
|
|
3,427,786
|
|
-
|
Other
receivables
|
10
|
7,642,019
|
|
6,976,028
|
Cash
and
cash
equivalents
|
|
13,142,803
|
|
27,235,318
|
Total
assets
|
|
839,527,966
|
|
775,878,569
|
Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
liabilities
at
fair
value
through
profit
or
loss
|
|
|
|
|
-
Derivative
liabilities:
Forward
currency
contracts
|
18
|
20,877
|
|
1,509
|
Amounts
payable
under
repurchase
agreements
|
12
|
14,090,507
|
|
49,827,700
|
Amounts
due
to
broker
|
|
10,596,437
|
|
-
|
Share
issue
costs
payable
|
|
-
|
|
5,219
|
Other
payables
|
11
|
1,280,159
|
|
1,061,379
|
Total
liabilities
|
|
25,987,980
|
|
50,895,807
|
Net
assets
|
|
813,539,986
|
|
724,982,762
|
Equity
|
|
|
|
|
Share
capital
account
|
13
|
780,234,543
|
|
750,558,986
|
Retained
earnings/(accumulated
losses)
|
|
33,305,443
|
|
(25,576,224)
|
Total
equity
|
|
813,539,986
|
|
724,982,762
|
Ordinary
Shares
in
issue
|
13
|
747,836,661
|
|
718,036,661
|
Net
Asset
Value
per
Ordinary
Share
(pence)
|
6
|
108.79
|
|
100.97
|
From
31 March 2024, the assets and
liabilities have been presented in order of liquidity as this
presentation is considered to be more reliable and relevant to the
users of these financial statements.
The
Audited Financial Statements were approved by the Board of
Directors on 10 July 2024 and signed
on its behalf by:
John de Garis Paul
Le Page
Director Director
The
accompanying notes form an integral part of these Financial
Statements.
STATEMENT
OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
for the
year ended 31 March 2024
|
|
Share capital
account
|
(Accumulated losses)/
retained
earnings
|
Total
|
Notes
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
Balances
at
1 April
2023
|
|
750,558,986
|
(25,576,224)
|
724,982,762
|
|
|
|
|
|
Issue
of
Ordinary
Shares
|
13
|
30,244,890
|
-
|
30,244,890
|
Share
issue
costs
|
13
|
(347,816)
|
-
|
(347,816)
|
Dividends
paid
|
|
-
|
(77,354,015)
|
(77,354,015)
|
Income
equalisation
on
new
issues
|
5
|
(221,517)
|
221,517
|
-
|
Total
comprehensive
income
for
the
year
|
|
-
|
136,014,165
|
136,014,165
|
Balances
at
31
March
2024
|
|
780,234,543
|
33,305,443
|
813,539,986
|
|
|
Share
capital
|
Retained
earnings/
|
|
|
|
account
|
(accumulated
losses)
|
Total
|
|
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
Balances
at
1 April
2022
|
|
675,350,674
|
43,126,544
|
718,477,218
|
|
|
|
|
|
Issue
of
Ordinary
Shares
|
13
|
76,631,101
|
-
|
76,631,101
|
Share
issue
costs
|
13
|
(773,112)
|
-
|
(773,112)
|
Release
of
UKML
share
issue
costs
payable
|
13
|
798,176
|
-
|
798,176
|
Dividends
paid
|
|
-
|
(47,555,276)
|
(47,555,276)
|
Income
equalisation
on
new
issues
|
5
|
(1,447,853)
|
1,447,853
|
-
|
Total
comprehensive
loss
for
the
year
|
|
-
|
(22,595,345)
|
(22,595,345)
|
Balances
at
31
March
2023
|
|
750,558,986
|
(25,576,224)
|
724,982,762
|
The
accompanying notes form an integral part of these Financial
Statements.
STATEMENT
OF CASH FLOWS
for the
year ended 31 March 2024
|
|
Year
ended
|
|
Year
ended
|
|
Notes
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Cash
flows from operating activities
|
|
|
|
|
Total
comprehensive income/(loss) for the year
|
|
136,014,165
|
|
(22,595,345)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Less:
|
|
|
|
|
Adjustments
for non-cash transactions:
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
income on financial assets at fair value through profit or
loss
|
(74,803,793)
|
|
(64,542,727)
|
Movement
in interest income receivable
|
|
746,972
|
|
2,960,889
|
Net
(gains)/losses on investments
|
9
|
(53,903,533)
|
|
70,193,539
|
Amortisation
adjustment under effective interest rate method
|
9
|
(8,874,421)
|
|
(19,931,829)
|
Unrealised
losses/(gains) on forward currency contracts
|
8
|
341,679
|
|
(3,976,681)
|
Exchange
gains on cash and cash equivalents
|
|
(6,164)
|
|
(8,363)
|
Increase
in other receivables
|
|
(665,991)
|
|
(2,988,623)
|
Increase/(decrease)
in other payables
|
|
218,780
|
|
(1,248,584)
|
Finance
costs on repurchase agreements
|
|
755,788
|
|
1,278,260
|
Purchase
of investments
|
|
(270,559,457)
|
|
(264,066,709)
|
Sale of
investments/principal repayments
|
|
266,535,617
|
|
151,501,203
|
Investment
income received
|
|
73,112,680
|
|
61,522,830
|
Bank
interest income received
|
|
944,140
|
|
59,008
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net cash
generated from/(used in) operating activities
|
|
69,856,462
|
|
(91,843,132)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
flows from financing activities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Proceeds
from issue of Ordinary Shares
|
13
|
30,244,890
|
|
76,631,101
|
Share
issue costs
|
|
(353,035)
|
|
(3,169,718)
|
Dividend
paid
|
21
|
(77,354,015)
|
|
(47,555,276)
|
Finance
costs paid
|
12
|
(863,838)
|
|
(1,134,145)
|
(Decrease)/increase
in amounts payable under repurchase agreements, excluding finance
cost liabilities
|
12
|
(35,629,143)
|
|
34,592,063
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net cash
(used in)/generated from financing activities
|
|
(83,955,141)
|
|
59,364,025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Decrease
in cash and cash equivalents
|
|
(14,098,679)
|
|
(32,479,107)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and
cash equivalents at beginning of the year
|
|
27,235,318
|
|
59,706,062
|
Exchange
gains on cash and cash equivalents
|
|
6,164
|
|
8,363
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
and cash equivalents at end of the year
|
|
13,142,803
|
|
27,235,318
|
The
accompanying notes form an integral part of these Financial
Statements.
NOTES
TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
for the
year ended 31 March 2024
1. General
Information
TwentyFour
Income Fund Limited (the “Company”) was incorporated with limited
liability in Guernsey, as a
closed-ended investment company on 11
January 2013. The Company’s shares (“Ordinary Shares”, being
the sole share class) were listed with a Premium Listing on the
Official List of the UK Listing Authority and admitted to trading
on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 6 March 2013.
Since
16 September 2022, the Company has
been included in the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 250
Index.
The
Company’s investment objective and policy is set out in the Summary
Information.
The
Portfolio Manager of the Company is TwentyFour Asset Management LLP
(the “Portfolio Manager”).
2. Significant
Accounting Policies
a)
Basis
of Preparation
The
Directors believe that it is appropriate to adopt the going concern
basis in preparing the Financial Statements in view of the
Company’s holdings in cash and cash equivalents and the liquidity
of investments and the income deriving from those investments,
meaning the Company has adequate financial resources and suitable
management arrangements in place to continue as a going concern for
at least twelve months from the date of approval of the Financial
Statements.
Additional
commentary on going concern is in the Directors’ Report.
Realisation
Opportunity
The next
Realisation Opportunity is due to occur after the AGM in Autumn
2025. The Board’s view is that while the share price discount
remains at the current levels, they do not expect to see a major
incentive to redeem and therefore the Realisation Opportunity
should not automatically trigger the adoption of a basis of
preparation other than going concern.
Whilst
there is no degree of certainty, rather like the Realisation
Opportunity that occurred during 2022, there may be some redemption
requests. In the past, these have been matched by secondary selling
of the redeemed shares to new purchasers. It is believed the
Realisation Opportunity is currently a low risk to the viability
prospects of the Company and for this reason these financial
statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. See note 18
for further details of the Realisation Opportunity.
b)
Statement of Compliance
The
Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by
the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) and are in
compliance with The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008.
c)
Presentation of Information
The
Financial Statements have been prepared on a going concern basis
under the historical cost convention adjusted to take account of
the revaluation of the Company's financial assets and liabilities
at fair value through profit or loss.
d)
Standards, Amendments and Interpretations Effective During the
Year
At the
reporting date of these Financial Statements, the following
standards, interpretations and amendments, were adopted for the
year ended 31 March 2024:
Insurance
Contracts (IFRS 17) (applicable to accounting periods beginning on
or after 1 January 2023);
Disclosure
of Accounting Policies (Amendments to IAS 1 and IFRS Practice
Statement 2) (applicable to accounting periods beginning on or
after 1 January 2023);
Definition
of Accounting Estimates (Amendments to IAS 8) (applicable to
accounting periods beginning on or after 1
January 2023); and
Deferred
Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single
Transaction (Amendments to IAS 12) (applicable to accounting
periods beginning on or after 1 January
2023).
The
Directors believe that the adoption of the above standards does not
have a material impact on the Company’s Audited Financial
Statements for the year ended 31 March
2024.
e)
Standards, Amendments and Interpretations Issued but not yet
Effective
At the
reporting date of these Financial Statements, the following
standards, interpretations and amendments, which have not been
applied in these Financial Statements, were in issue but not yet
effective:
Non-current
Liabilities with Covenants and Classification of Liabilities as
Current or Non-Current (Amendments to IAS 1) (applicable to
accounting periods beginning on or after 1
January 2024);
Lease Liability
in a Sale or Leaseback (Amendments to IFRS 16) (applicable to
accounting periods beginning on or after 1
January 2024);
Supplier
Finance Arrangements (Amendments to IAS 7 and IFRS 7) (applicable
to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024);
Lack of
Exchangeability (Amendments to IAS 21) (applicable to accounting
periods beginning on or after 1 January
2025);
Classification
and Measurement of Financial Instruments (Amendments to IFRS 7 and
IFRS 9) (applicable to periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026); and
Presentation
and Disclosures in Financial Statements (IFRS 18) (applicable to
accounting periods beginning on or after 1
January 2027).
The
Directors anticipate that the adoption of the above standards,
effective in future periods, will not have a material impact on the
financial statements of the Company.
f)
Financial Assets at Fair Value through Profit or
Loss
Classification
The
Company classifies its investments in debt securities and
derivatives as financial assets at fair value through profit or
loss.
Financial
assets and financial liabilities designated at fair value through
profit or loss at inception are financial instruments that are not
classified as held for trading but are managed and their
performance is evaluated on a fair value basis in accordance with
the Company’s business model per IFRS 9.
The
Company’s policy requires the Portfolio Manager and the Board of
Directors to evaluate the information about these financial assets
and liabilities on a fair value basis together with other related
financial information.
Recognition,
Derecognition and Measurement
Regular
purchases and sales of investments are recognised on the trade date
– the date on which the Company commits to purchase or sell the
investment. Financial assets and financial liabilities at fair
value through profit or loss are initially recognised at fair
value. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred in the Statement
of Comprehensive Income. Financial assets are derecognised when the
rights to receive cash flows from the investments have expired or
the Company has transferred substantially all risks and rewards of
ownership.
Investments
in Asset-Backed Securities (“ABS”) are the purchase of an interest
in pools of loans. The investment characteristics of Asset-Backed
Securities are such that principal payments are made more
frequently than traditional debt securities. The principal may be
repaid at any time because the underlying debt or other assets
generally may be repaid at any time.
The
Company records these principal repayments as they arise and
realises a gain or loss in the ‘net gains/(losses) on financial
assets at fair value through profit or loss’ in the Statement of
Comprehensive Income in the period in which they occur.
The
interest income arising on these securities is recognised within
income in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
Fair
Value Estimation
Fair value
is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to
transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market
participants at the measurement date. The fair value of investments
in Asset-Backed Securities are calculated in accordance with either
i) or ii) below and the change in fair value, if any, is recorded
as ‘net gains/(losses) on financial assets at fair value through
profit or loss’ in the Statement of Comprehensive
Income.
i)
Asset-Backed Securities Traded or Dealt on an Active Market or
Exchange
Asset-Backed
Securities that are traded or dealt on an active market or exchange
are valued by reference to their quoted mid-market price as at the
close of trading on the reporting date as Portfolio Manager deems
the mid-market price to be a reasonable approximation of an exit
price.
ii)
Asset-Backed Securities Not Traded or Dealt on an Active Market or
Exchange
Asset-Backed
Securities which are not traded or dealt on active markets or
exchanges are valued by reference to their price, as at the close
of business on the reporting date as determined by an independent
price vendor. If a price cannot be obtained from an independent
price vendor, or where the Portfolio Manager determines that the
provided price is not an accurate representation of the fair value
of the Asset-Backed Security, the Portfolio Manager will source
prices at the close of business on the reporting date from
third-party broker/dealer quotes and independent valuation experts,
where applicable for the relevant security.
Forward
Foreign Currency Contracts
Forward
foreign currency contracts are derivative contracts and as such are
recognised at fair value on the date on which they are entered into
and subsequently measured at their fair value. Fair value is
determined by rates in active currency markets. All forward foreign
currency contracts are carried as assets when fair value is
positive and as liabilities when fair value is negative. Gains and
losses on forward currency contracts are recognised as part of ‘net
foreign currency gains/(losses)’ in the Statement of Comprehensive
Income.
Expected
credit loss
The
expected credit loss (“ECL”) model applies to financial assets
measured at amortised cost and IFRS 9 mandates the use of the
simplified approach to calculating the expected credit losses for
amounts due from broker and other receivables. The ECL calculation
is based on the Company’s historical default rates over the
expected life of the trade receivables. Given the historical level
of defaults on trade receivables, there is a negligible impact
because of the lifetime expected credit loss to be
recognised.
Cash and
cash equivalents are also subject to the ECL requirements of IFRS 9
and the ECL is assessed as immaterial.
g)
Sale and Repurchase Agreements
Securities
sold subject to repurchase agreements are reclassified in the
financial statements as pledged assets when the transferee has the
right by contract or custom to sell or re-pledge the collateral.
The counterparty liability is included under ‘Amounts payable under
repurchase agreements’. Securities purchased under agreements to
resell are recorded separately under ‘due from agreements to
resell’. These securities are valued at amortised cost on the
Statement of Financial Position. The difference between the sale
and the repurchase price is treated as interest and accrued over
the life of the agreement using the effective interest
method.
h)
Amounts Due from and Due to Brokers
Amounts
due from and to brokers represent receivables for securities sold
and payables for securities purchased that have been contracted for
but not yet settled or delivered on the Statement of Financial
Position date respectively. These amounts are recognised initially
at fair value and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the
effective interest method.
i)
Income
Interest
income is recognised on a time-proportionate basis using the
effective interest method. Discounts received or premiums paid in
connection with the acquisition of Asset-Backed Securities are
amortised into interest income using the effective interest method
over the estimated life of the related security.
The
effective interest rate method is a method of calculating the
amortised cost of a financial asset or financial liability and of
allocating the interest income or interest expense over the
relevant period. The effective interest rate is the rate that
exactly discounts estimated future cash payments or receipts
throughout the expected life of the financial instrument, or, when
appropriate (see note 3(ii)(b)), a shorter period, to the net
carrying amount of the financial asset or financial liability. When
calculating the effective interest rate, the Company estimates cash
flows considering the expected life of the financial instrument but
does not consider future credit losses. The calculation includes
all fees and points paid or received between parties to the
contract that are an integral part of the effective interest rate
and all other premiums or discounts. The
amortisation adjustment under the effective interest rate method,
as shown in note 9, is classified as interest income.
j)
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and
cash equivalents comprise cash in hand and deposits held at call
with banks and other short-term investments in an active market
with original maturities of three months or less and bank
overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown in current liabilities in the
Statement of Financial Position.
k)
Share Capital
As there
are only Ordinary Shares in issue, which are redeemable at the
discretion of the Board, the shares are presented as equity in
accordance with IAS 32 – “Financial Instruments: Disclosure and
Presentation”. Incremental costs directly attributable to the issue
of Ordinary Shares are shown in equity as a deduction, net of tax,
from the proceeds and disclosed in the Statement of Changes in
Equity.
l)
Foreign Currency Translation
Functional
and Presentation Currency
Items
included in the financial statements are measured using Sterling,
the currency of the primary economic environment in which the
Company operates (the “functional currency”). The Financial
Statements are presented in Sterling, which is the Company’s
presentation currency.
Transactions
and Balances
Foreign
currency transactions are translated into the functional currency
using the exchange rates prevailing at the dates of the
transactions. Foreign currency assets and liabilities are
translated into the functional currency using the exchange rate
prevailing at the Statement of Financial Position date.
Foreign
exchange gains and losses relating to the financial assets and
liabilities carried at fair value through profit or loss are
presented in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
m)
Transaction Costs
Transaction
costs on financial assets at fair value through profit or loss
include fees and commissions paid to agents, advisers, brokers and
dealers. Transaction costs, when incurred, are immediately
recognised in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
n)
Segmental Reporting
Operating
segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal
reporting provided to the chief operating decision-maker. The chief
operating decision-maker, who is responsible for allocating
resources and assessing performance of the operating segments, has
been identified as the Board.
The
Directors are of the opinion that the Company is engaged in a
single segment of business, being investments in Asset-Backed
Securities. The Directors manage the business in this way.
Additional information can be found in note 20.
o)
Expenses
All
expenses are included in the Statement of Comprehensive Income on
an accrual basis. Expenses incurred on the acquisition of
investments at fair value through profit or loss are charged to the
Statement of Comprehensive Income. All other expenses are
recognised through profit or loss in the Statement of Comprehensive
Income.
p)
Other Receivables
Other
receivables are amounts due in the ordinary course of business. If
collection is expected in one year or less, they are classified as
current assets. If not, they are presented as non-current assets.
Other receivables are recognised initially at fair value and
subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective
interest method, less any expected credit losses.
q)
Other Payables
Other
payables are obligations to pay for services that have been
acquired in the ordinary course of business. Other payables are
classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year
or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities.
Other payables are recognised initially at fair value and
subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective
interest method.
r)
Dividend
A dividend
to the Company’s Shareholders is recognised as a liability in the
Company’s financial statements and disclosed in the Statement of
Changes in Equity in the period in which the dividends are approved
by the Board.
s)
Income Equalisation on New Issues
In order
to ensure there are no dilutive effects on earnings/(loss) per
Ordinary Share for current Shareholders when issuing new shares, a
transfer is made between share capital and income to reflect that
amount of income included in the purchase price of the new
shares.
t)
Treasury Shares
The
Company has the right to issue and purchase up to 14.99% of the
total number of its own Ordinary Shares, as disclosed in note
13.
Ordinary
Shares held in Treasury are excluded from calculations when
determining earnings/(loss) per Ordinary Share or NAV per Ordinary
Share, as detailed in notes 4 and 6.
3. Significant
Accounting Judgements, Estimates and
Assumptions
The
preparation of the Company’s Financial Statements requires
management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that
affect the reported amounts of revenues, expenses, assets and
liabilities and the accompanying disclosures. Uncertainty about
these assumptions and estimates could result in outcomes that
require a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets or
liabilities affected in future periods.
(i)
Judgements
In the
process of applying the Company’s accounting policies, management
has made the following judgements, which have the most significant
effect on the amounts recognised in the Financial
Statements:
Functional
Currency
As
disclosed in note 2(l), the Company’s functional currency is
Sterling. Sterling is the currency in which the Company measures
its performance and reports its results, as well as the currency in
which it receives subscriptions from its investors. Dividends are
also paid to its investors in Sterling. The Directors believe that
Sterling best represents the functional currency.
Determination
of Observable Inputs
In note
19, Fair Value Measurement, when determining the levels of
investments within the fair value hierarchy, the determination of
what constitutes ‘observable’ requires significant judgement by the
Company. The Company considers observable data to be market data
that is readily available, regularly distributed or updated,
reliable and verifiable, not proprietary, and provided by
independent sources that are actively involved in the relevant
market.
(ii)
Estimates
and Assumptions
The key
assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of
estimation uncertainty at the reporting date, that have a
significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying
amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year,
are described below. The Board based its assumptions and estimates
on parameters available when the Financial Statements were
prepared. Existing circumstances and assumptions about future
developments, however, may change due to market changes or
circumstances arising which are beyond the control of the Company.
Such changes are reflected in the assumptions when they
occur.
(a)
Fair
Value of Securities not Quoted in an Active Market
The
Company carries its investments in credit securities at fair value,
with changes in value being recognised in the Statement of
Comprehensive Income. In cases where prices of credit securities
are not quoted in an active market, the Portfolio Manager will
obtain prices determined at the close of business on the reporting
date from an independent price vendor. The Portfolio Manager
exercises its judgement on the quality of the independent price
vendor and information provided. If a price cannot be obtained from
an independent price vendor or where the Portfolio Manager
determines that the provided price is not an accurate
representation of the fair value of the credit security, the
Portfolio Manager will source prices from independent third-party
brokers or dealers for the relevant security, which may be
indicative rather than tradable. Where no third-party price is
available, or where the Portfolio Manager determines that the
third-party quote is not an accurate representation of the fair
value, the Portfolio Manager will determine the valuation based on
the Portfolio Manager's valuation policy. This may include the use
of a comparable arm's length transaction, independent valuation
experts, reference to other securities that are substantially the
same, discounted cash flow analysis and other valuation techniques
commonly used by market participants making the maximum use of
market inputs and relying as little as possible on entity-specific
inputs. See note 19 for details on fair value measurement of
investments.
No credit
securities were priced by the Portfolio Manager during the year or
any previous year. There has been no change to the accounting
policy applied to how these investments have been valued (see notes
2 and 3) but the use of an independent third-party valuation expert
was used to value approximately 19.12% of the Company’s investments
at 31 March 2024 (31 March 2023: 21.73%). See note 18 for price
sensitivity analysis and details of interest rate risk.
(b)
Estimated
Life of Asset-Backed Securities
In
determining the estimated life of the Asset-Backed Securities held
by the Company, the Portfolio Manager estimates the remaining life
of the security with respect to expected prepayment rates, default
rates and loss rates together with other information available in
the market underlying the security. The estimated life of the
Asset-Backed Securities as determined by the Portfolio Manager,
impacts the effective interest rate of the Asset-Backed Securities
which
in turn
impacts the calculation of income as discussed in note 2(i). As the
Asset-Backed Securities are measured at fair value, this estimation
uncertainty over the life of the securities will not have a
significant risk of resulting in a material adjustment to the
carrying amounts of securities within the next financial year,
however, it is of significance given the separate presentation of
interest income in the Statement of Comprehensive
Income.
4. Earnings/(Loss)
per Ordinary Share - Basic & Diluted
The
earnings/(loss) per Ordinary Share - Basic and Diluted has been
calculated based on the weighted average number of Ordinary Shares
of 745,285,022 (31 March 2023:
664,696,773) and a net gain of £136,014,165 (31 March 2023: net loss of
£22,595,345).
5. Income
Equalisation on New Issues
In order
to ensure there are no dilutive effects on earnings/(loss) per
Ordinary Share for current Shareholders when issuing new shares,
earnings are calculated in respect of accrued income at the time of
purchase and a transfer is made from share capital to income to
reflect this. The transfer for the year is £221,517 (31 March 2023: £1,447,853).
6. Net
Asset Value per Ordinary Share
The Net
Asset Value of each Ordinary Share of £1.09 (31 March 2023: £1.01) is determined by dividing
the net assets of the Company attributed to the Ordinary Shares of
£813,539,986 (31 March 2023:
£724,982,762) by the number of Ordinary Shares in issue at
31 March 2024 of 747,836,661
(31 March 2023:
718,036,661).
7.
Taxation
The
Company has been granted Exempt Status under the terms of The
Income Tax (Exempt Bodies) (Guernsey) Ordinance, 1989 to income tax in
Guernsey. Its liability for
Guernsey taxation is limited to an
annual fee of £1,200 (2023: £1,200). Effective 1 January 2024, this fee was increased to £1,600
per annum.
8. Net
Foreign Currency Gains/(Losses)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For
the year
|
|
For
the year
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
01.04.23
to 31.03.24
|
|
01.04.22
to 31.03.23
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Movement
on unrealised (gain)/loss on forward currency contracts
|
(341,679)
|
|
3,976,681
|
Realised
gains/(losses) on foreign currency contracts
|
15,671,051
|
|
(13,106,492)
|
Unrealised
foreign currency gain on receivables/payables
|
3,428
|
|
219,025
|
Unrealised
foreign currency exchange gain on interest receivable
|
35,876
|
|
73,241
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15,368,676
|
|
(8,837,545)
|
9. Investments
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For
the year
|
|
For
the year
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
01.04.23
to 31.03.24
|
|
01.04.22
to 31.03.23
|
Financial
assets at fair value through profit or loss:
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Opening
book cost
|
|
|
|
|
|
832,506,047
|
|
693,217,802
|
Purchases
at cost
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
281,155,894
|
|
390,806,347
|
Proceeds
on sale/principal repayment
|
|
(269,963,403)
|
|
(297,663,729)
|
Amortisation
adjustment under effective interest rate method
|
8,874,421
|
|
19,931,829
|
Realised
gains on sale/principal repayment
|
|
3,698,699
|
|
57,193,656
|
Realised
losses on sale/principal repayment
|
|
(41,128,677)
|
|
(30,979,858)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Closing
book cost
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
815,142,981
|
|
832,506,047
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unrealised
gains on investments
|
|
19,029,145
|
|
3,919,689
|
Unrealised
losses on investments
|
|
(20,815,711)
|
|
(97,039,766)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fair
value
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
813,356,415
|
|
739,385,970
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For
the year
|
|
For
the year
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
01.04.23
to 31.03.24
|
|
01.04.22
to 31.03.23
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Realised
gains on sales/principal repayment
|
3,698,699
|
|
57,193,656
|
Realised
losses on sales/principal repayment
|
(41,128,677)
|
|
(30,979,858)
|
Increase/(decrease)
in unrealised gains
|
|
15,109,456
|
|
(31,815,765)
|
Decrease/(increase)
in unrealised losses
|
|
76,224,055
|
|
(64,591,572)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
gains/(losses) on financial assets at fair value through profit or
loss
|
53,903,533
|
|
(70,193,539)
|
10. Other
Receivables
|
|
As
at
|
|
As
at
|
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Coupon
interest receivable
|
|
7,617,384
|
|
6,808,822
|
Bank
interest receivable
|
|
-
|
|
61,590
|
Prepaid
expenses
|
|
24,635
|
|
105,616
|
|
|
7,642,019
|
|
6,976,028
|
There are
no material expected credit losses for coupon interest receivable
as at 31 March 2024.
11. Other
Payables
|
As
at
|
|
As
at
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Portfolio
management
fees
payable
|
835,269
|
|
738,231
|
Custody
fees
payable
|
25,479
|
|
6,974
|
Administration
and
secretarial
fees
payable
|
92,065
|
|
83,039
|
Directors'
fee
payable
|
-
|
|
12,629
|
Audit
fees
payable
|
156,000
|
|
136,389
|
AIFM
fees
payable
|
66,283
|
|
47,885
|
Depositary
fees
payable
|
34,720
|
|
16,792
|
General
expenses
payable
|
70,343
|
|
19,440
|
|
1,280,159
|
|
1,061,379
|
A summary
of the expected payment dates of payables can be found in the
‘Liquidity Risk’ section of note 18.
12. Amounts
Payable under Repurchase Agreements
The
Company, as part of its investment strategy, may enter into
repurchase agreements. A repurchase agreement is a short-term loan
where both parties agree to the sale and future repurchase of
assets within a specified contract period. Repurchase agreements
may be entered into in respect of securities owned by the Company
which are sold to and repurchased from counterparties on
contractually agreed dates and the cash generated from this
arrangement can be used to purchase new securities, effectively
creating leverage. The Company still benefits from any income
received, attributable to the security.
Under the
Company’s Global Master Repurchase Agreement, it may from time to
time enter into transactions with a buyer or seller under the terms
and conditions as governed by the agreement.
Finance
costs on repurchase agreements have been presented separately from
interest income. Finance costs on repurchase agreements amounted to
£755,788 (31 March 2023: £1,278,260).
As at 31 March 2024, finance cost
liabilities on open repurchase agreements amounted to £49,285
(31 March 2023: £157,335).
At the end
of the year, amounts repayable under open repurchase agreements
were £14,090,507 (31 March 2023:
£49,827,700). Two securities were designated as collateral against
the repurchase agreements (31 March
2023: nine securities), with a total fair value of
£17,525,866 (31 March 2023:
£50,574,587), all of which were investment grade RMBS. The total
exposure was -1.73% (31 March 2023:
-6.74%) of the Company’s NAV. The contracts were across two
counterparties and were all rolling agreements with a maturity of 3
months.
The
changes in amounts payable under repurchase agreements are
disclosed below:
|
For
the
year
|
|
For
the
year
|
|
01.04.23
to
|
|
01.04.22
to
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
Amounts
payable under repurchase agreements
|
£
|
|
£
|
Opening
balance, excluding finance cost liabilities
|
49,670,365
|
|
15,078,302
|
Agreements
entered during the year
|
66,055,670
|
|
208,081,481
|
Repaid/maturities
during the year
|
(101,684,813)
|
|
(173,489,418)
|
Closing
balance, excluding finance cost liabilities
|
14,041,222
|
|
49,670,365
|
|
|
|
|
|
For
the
year
|
|
For
the
year
|
|
01.04.23
to
|
|
01.04.22
to
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
Finance
cost liabilities
|
£
|
|
£
|
Opening
balance
|
157,335
|
|
13,220
|
Charged
during the year
|
755,788
|
|
1,278,260
|
Repayments
during the year
|
(863,838)
|
|
(1,134,145)
|
Closing
balance
|
49,285
|
|
157,335
|
13. Share
Capital
Authorised
Share Capital
Unlimited
number of Ordinary Shares at no par value.
Issued
Share Capital
|
For
the
year
|
|
For
the
year
|
|
01.04.23
to
|
|
01.04.22
to
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
Ordinary
Shares
|
£
|
|
£
|
Share
Capital
at
the
beginning
of
the
year
|
750,558,986
|
|
675,350,674
|
Issue
of
Ordinary
Shares
|
30,244,890
|
|
76,631,101
|
Share
issue
costs
|
(347,816)
|
|
(773,112)
|
Release
of
UKML
share
issue
costs
payable1
|
-
|
|
798,176
|
Income
equalisation
on
new
issues
|
(221,517)
|
|
(1,447,853)
|
Total
Share
Capital
at
the
end
of
the
year
|
780,234,543
|
|
750,558,986
|
1 The release
of UK Mortgages Limited (“UKML”) share issue costs payable was as a
result of an over-accrual of estimated costs at 31 March 2022 attributed to the issue of new
Ordinary Shares from the acquisition of UKML assets.
|
|
|
|
|
For
the year
|
|
For
the year
|
|
|
|
|
|
01.04.23
to 31.03.24
|
|
01.04.22
to 31.03.23
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number
of Ordinary Shares
|
|
Number
of Ordinary Shares
|
Ordinary
Shares
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shares at
the beginning of the year
|
718,036,661
|
|
638,942,655
|
Issue of
Ordinary Shares
|
|
|
29,800,000
|
|
79,094,006
|
Total
Shares in issue at the end of the year
|
747,836,661
|
|
718,036,661
|
|
For
the
year
|
|
For
the
year
|
|
01.04.23
to
|
|
01.04.22
to
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Treasury
Shares
|
|
|
|
Treasury
Share
capital
at
the
beginning
of
the
year
|
-
|
|
43,083,300
|
Issue
of
Ordinary Shares
from
Treasury
|
-
|
|
(43,083,300)
|
Total
Treasury
Share
capital
at
the
end
of
the
year
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
For
the
year
|
|
For
the
year
|
|
01.04.23
to
|
|
01.04.22
to
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
|
Number
of
Shares
|
|
Number
of
Shares
|
Treasury
Shares
|
|
|
|
Treasury
Shares
at
the
beginning
of
the
year
|
-
|
|
39,000,000
|
Issue
of
Ordinary Shares
from
Treasury
|
-
|
|
(39,000,000)
|
Total
Treasury
Shares
at
the
end
of
the
year
|
-
|
|
-
|
During the
year, the following new Ordinary Shares were issued:
Issue
Date
|
Number
of Ordinary Shares
issued
(units)
|
Issue
Price
(pence)
|
Total
Consideration
£
|
|
Share
issue
costs
£
|
|
Issue
of
Ordinary Shares
£
|
12
April
2023
|
9,200,000
|
103.28
|
9,501,760
|
|
(109,270)
|
|
9,392,490
|
13
April
2023
|
1,100,000
|
103.28
|
1,136,080
|
|
(13,065)
|
|
1,123,015
|
20
April
2023
|
3,000,000
|
99.24
|
2,977,200
|
|
(34,238)
|
|
2,942,962
|
27
April
2023
|
3,000,000
|
99.61
|
2,988,300
|
|
(34,365)
|
|
2,953,935
|
3
May
2023
|
1,500,000
|
100.49
|
1,507,350
|
|
(17,335)
|
|
1,490,015
|
11
May
2023
|
1,000,000
|
100.75
|
1,007,500
|
|
(11,586)
|
|
995,914
|
18
May
2023
|
4,500,000
|
101.00
|
4,545,000
|
|
(52,267)
|
|
4,492,733
|
25
May
2023
|
1,000,000
|
101.24
|
1,012,400
|
|
(11,643)
|
|
1,000,757
|
31
May
2023
|
4,500,000
|
101.26
|
4,556,700
|
|
(52,402)
|
|
4,504,298
|
1
June
2023
|
1,000,000
|
101.26
|
1,012,600
|
|
(11,645)
|
|
1,000,955
|
|
|
|
30,244,890
|
|
(347,816)
|
|
29,897,074
|
The Share
Capital of the Company consists of an unlimited number of Ordinary
Shares at no par value which, upon issue, the Directors may
designate as: Ordinary Shares; Realisation Shares or such other
class as the Board shall determine and denominated in such
currencies as shall be determined at the discretion of the
Board.
As at
31 March 2024, one share class has
been issued, being the Ordinary Shares of the Company.
The
Ordinary Shares carry the following rights:
a)
The
Ordinary Shares carry the right to receive all income of the
Company attributable to the Ordinary Shares.
b)
The
Shareholders present in person or by proxy or present by a duly
authorised representative at a general meeting has, on a show of
hands, one vote and, on a poll, one vote for each Ordinary Share
held.
c)
56 days
before the annual general meeting date of the Company in each third
year (the “Reorganisation Date”), the Shareholders are entitled to
serve a written notice (a “Realisation Election”) requesting that
all or a part of the Ordinary Shares held by them be redesignated
to Realisation Shares, subject to the aggregate NAV of the Ordinary
Shares held by shareholders who do not submit Realisation Elections
in respect of those Ordinary Shares (“Continuing Ordinary Shares”)
on the last business day before the Reorganisation Date being not
less than £100 million. A Realisation Notice, once given is
irrevocable unless the Board agrees otherwise. If one or more
Realisation Elections be duly made and the aggregate NAV of the
continuing Ordinary Shares on the last business day before the
Reorganisation Date is less than £100 million, the Realisation will
not take place. Shareholders do not have a right to have their
shares redeemed and shares are redeemable at the discretion of the
Board. The most recent Realisation Election took place in
October 2022 and the next Realisation
Opportunity is due to occur at the end of the next three-year term,
at the date of the AGM in September
2025.
The
Company has the right to issue and purchase up to 14.99% of the
total number of its own shares at £0.01 each, to be classed as
Treasury Shares and may cancel those Shares or hold any such Shares
as Treasury Shares, provided that the number of Shares held as
Treasury Shares shall not at any time exceed 10% of the total
number of Shares of that class in issue at that time or such amount
as provided in The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008.
The
Company has the right to re-issue Treasury Shares at a later
date.
Shares
held in Treasury are excluded from calculations when determining
earnings/(loss) per Ordinary Share or NAV per Ordinary Share, as
detailed in notes 4 and 6, respectively.
14. Analysis
of Financial Assets and Liabilities by Measurement
Basis
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assets
at fair
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
value
through
|
|
Amortised
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
profit
or loss
|
|
cost
|
|
Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
31 March
2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
Assets as per Statement of Financial Position
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
assets at fair value through profit or loss:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Investments
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
813,356,415
|
|
-
|
|
813,356,415
|
-
Derivative assets: Forward currency contracts
|
|
1,958,943
|
|
-
|
|
1,958,943
|
Amounts
due from broker
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
3,427,786
|
|
3,427,786
|
Other
receivables (excluding prepayments)
|
|
-
|
|
7,617,384
|
|
7,617,384
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
13,142,803
|
|
13,142,803
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
815,315,358
|
|
24,187,973
|
|
839,503,331
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liabilities
at fair
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
value
through
|
|
Amortised
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
profit
or loss
|
|
cost
|
|
Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Financial
Liabilities as per Statement of Financial
Position
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
liabilities at fair value through profit or loss:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Derivative liabilities: Forward currency contracts
|
|
20,877
|
|
-
|
|
20,877
|
Amounts
payable under repurchase agreements
|
|
-
|
|
14,090,507
|
|
14,090,507
|
Amounts
due to brokers
|
|
-
|
|
10,596,437
|
|
10,596,437
|
Other
payables
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
1,280,159
|
|
1,280,159
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
20,877
|
|
25,967,103
|
|
25,987,980
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assets
at fair
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
value
through
|
|
Amortised
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
profit
or loss
|
|
cost
|
|
Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
31 March
2023
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
Assets as per Statement of Financial Position
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
assets at fair value through profit or loss:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Investments
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
739,385,970
|
|
-
|
|
739,385,970
|
-
Derivative assets: Forward currency contracts
|
|
2,281,253
|
|
-
|
|
2,281,253
|
Other
receivables (excluding prepayments)
|
|
-
|
|
6,870,412
|
|
6,870,412
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
27,235,318
|
|
27,235,318
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
741,667,223
|
|
34,105,730
|
|
775,772,953
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liabilities
at fair
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
value
through
|
|
Amortised
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
profit
or loss
|
|
cost
|
|
Total
|
31 March
2023
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Financial
Liabilities as per Statement of Financial
Position
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
liabilities at fair value through profit or loss:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Derivative liabilities: Forward currency contracts
|
|
1,509
|
|
-
|
|
1,509
|
Amounts
payable under repurchase agreements
|
|
-
|
|
49,827,700
|
|
49,827,700
|
Share
issue costs payable
|
|
-
|
|
5,219
|
|
5,219
|
Other
payables
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
1,061,379
|
|
1,061,379
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,509
|
|
50,894,298
|
|
50,895,807
|
15. Related
Parties
a)
Directors’ Remuneration & Expenses
The
Directors of the Company are remunerated for their services at such
a rate as the Directors determine. At the Annual General Meeting,
held on 14 October 2022, Shareholders
approved the increase of the upper limit of aggregate Director fees
from
£225,000 to £400,000 per annum.
During the
year, the annual fees were £60,000 for the Chair of the Board,
£50,000 for the Audit Committee Chair, £42,000 for the Senior
Independent Director, the Chair of the Remuneration and Nomination
Committee and Chair of the Management Engagement Committee, and
£40,000 for all other Directors.
During the
year ended 31 March 2024, Directors’
fees of £254,304, (31 March 2023:
£261,684) were charged to the Company, of which £Nil (31 March 2023: £12,629) remained payable at the
end of the year.
b)
Portfolio Manager
The
portfolio management fee is payable to the Portfolio Manager,
monthly in arrears at a rate of 0.75% per annum of the lower of
NAV, which is calculated weekly on each valuation day, or market
capitalisation of each class of shares. Total portfolio management
fees for the year amounted to £5,690,248 (31
March 2023: £5,034,036) of which £835,269 (31 March 2023: £738,231) is due and payable at
the year end. The Portfolio Management Agreement
dated 29
May 2014 remains in force until determined by the Company or
the Portfolio Manager giving the other party not less than twelve
months' notice in writing. Under certain circumstances, the Company
or the Portfolio Manager is entitled to immediately terminate the
agreement in writing.
The
Portfolio Manager is also entitled to a commission of 0.15% of the
aggregate gross offering proceeds plus any applicable VAT in
relation to any issue of new Ordinary Shares, following admission,
in consideration of marketing services that it provides to the
Company. During the year, the Portfolio Manager received £45,367
(31 March 2023: £6,801) in
commission.
c)
Shares Held by Related Parties
As at
31 March 2024, Directors of the
Company held the following shares beneficially:
|
Number
of
Ordinary
Shares
|
|
Number
of
Ordinary
Shares
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
Bronwyn
Curtis¹
|
114,154
|
|
105,313
|
John Le
Poidevin
|
260,121
|
|
260,121
|
Richard
Burwood²
|
N/A
|
|
87,186
|
John de
Garis
|
39,753
|
|
39,753
|
Joanne
Fintzen³
|
38,538
|
|
38,538
|
Paul Le
Page
|
49,457
|
|
49,457
|
¹
Bronwyn Curtis acquired 8,841
Ordinary Shares through reinvested dividends.
²
Richard Burwood retired from the
Board on 14 September 2023, therefore
his shareholding as at 31 March 2024
has not been disclosed.
³
Joanne Fintzen purchased 47,722
Ordinary Shares on 5 April 2024,
increasing her shareholding post year end to 86,260 Ordinary
Shares.
As at
31 March 2024, the Portfolio Manager
held 36,406,018 Ordinary Shares (31 March
2023: 35,105,683 Shares), which is 4.87% (31 March 2023: 4.89%) of the Issued Share
Capital. Partners and employees of the Portfolio Manager held
8,432,398 Ordinary Shares (31 March
2023: 12,155,104 Shares), which is 1.13% (31 March 2023: 1.69%) of the Issued Share
Capital.
Any shares
purchased by Directors, the Portfolio Manager and employees of the
Portfolio Manager are carried out in their capacity as
Shareholders. No Ordinary Shares are offered or awarded to any
related parties as remuneration.
16. Material
Agreements
a)
Alternative Investment Fund Manager
The
Company’s Alternative Investment Fund Manager (the “AIFM”) is Apex
Fundrock Limited (previously called Maitland Institutional Services
Limited). On 9 January 2024, the
Board approved the appointment of Waystone Management Company (IE)
Limited as the new AIFM of the Company, which took effect post year
end from 21 June 2024. In
consideration for the services provided by the AIFM under the
existing AIFM Agreement, the AIFM is entitled to receive from the
Company a minimum fee of £20,000 per annum and fees payable
quarterly in arrears at a rate of 0.07% of the NAV of the Company
below £50 million, 0.05% on Net Assets between £50 million and £100
million and 0.03% on Net Assets in excess of £100 million. During
the year ended 31 March 2024, AIFM
fees of £257,384 (31 March 2023:
£231,363) were charged to the Company, of which £66,283
(31 March 2023: £47,885) remained
payable at the end of the year.
b)
Administrator and Secretary
Administration
fees are payable to Northern Trust International Fund
Administration Services (Guernsey)
Limited monthly in arrears at a rate of 0.06% per annum of the NAV
of the Company below £100 million, 0.05% per annum on Net Assets
between £100 million and £200 million and 0.04% per annum on Net
Assets in excess of £200 million as at the last business day of the
month subject to a minimum £75,000 each year. In addition, an
annual fee of £25,000 is charged for corporate governance and
company secretarial services. Total administration and secretarial
fees for the year amounted to £358,119 (31
March 2023: £323,483) of which £92,065, (31 March 2023: £83,039) is due and payable at end
of the year.
c)
Depositary
Depositary
fees are payable to Northern Trust (Guernsey) Limited, monthly in arrears, at a
rate of 0.0175% per annum of the Net Asset Value of the Company up
to £100 million, 0.0150% per annum on Net Assets between £100
million and £200 million and 0.0125% per annum on Net Assets in
excess of £200 million as at the last business day of the month
subject to a minimum £25,000 per annum. Total depositary fees and
charges for the year amounted to £102,283, (31 March 2023: £91,401) of which £34,720
(31 March 2023: £16,792) is due and
payable at the year end.
The
Depositary is also entitled to a Global Custody fee of a minimum of
£8,500 per annum plus transaction fees. Total Global Custody fees
and charges for the year amounted to £75,874 (31 March 2023: £67,120) of which £25,479
(31 March 2023: £6,974) is due and
payable at the year end.
17.
Interests
in unconsolidated structured entities
IFRS 12
defines a structured entity as an entity that has been designed so
that voting or similar rights are not the dominant factor in
deciding who controls the entity, such as when any voting rights
relate to the administrative tasks only and the relevant activities
are directed by means of contractual agreements.
A
structured entity often has some of the following features or
attributes:
i)
restricted
activities,
ii)
a narrow
and well defined objective, and
iii)
financing
in the form of multiple instruments that create concentrations of
credit or other risks.
The
Company holds various investments in Asset-Backed Securities. The
fair value of the Asset-Backed Securities is recorded in the
“Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss -
Investments” line in the Statement of Financial Position. The
Company’s maximum exposure to loss from these investments is equal
to their total fair value. Once the Company has disposed of its
holding in any of these investments, the Company ceases to be
exposed to any risk from that investment. The Company has not
provided, and would not be required to provide, any financial
support to these investees. The investments are
non-recourse.
Below is a
summary of the Company’s holdings in unconsolidated structured
entities as at 31 March 2024 and
31 March 2023:
As
at 31 March 2024
|
|
|
|
|
Number
of investments
|
Range
of Nominal
|
Average
Nominal
|
|
Carrying
Value
|
|
%
of
Company’s
NAV
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
million
|
£
million
|
|
£
million
|
|
|
Asset
Backed Securities*:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Auto
Loans
|
|
|
|
|
14
|
7 –
55
|
22
|
|
28
|
|
3.4%
|
CLO
|
|
|
|
|
108
|
9 –
36
|
16
|
|
302
|
|
37.1%
|
CMBS
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
15 –
65
|
35
|
|
26
|
|
3.3%
|
Consumer
ABS
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
11 –
45
|
27
|
|
16
|
|
1.9%
|
RMBS
|
|
|
|
|
66
|
2 –
85
|
18
|
|
406
|
|
49.9%
|
SRT
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
143 –
1,263
|
591
|
|
31
|
|
3.8%
|
Student
Loans
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
33
|
33
|
|
4
|
|
0.5%
|
|
|
|
|
|
204
|
|
|
|
813
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As
at 31 March 2023
|
|
|
|
|
Number
of investments
|
Range
of Nominal
|
Average
Nominal
|
|
Carrying
Value
|
|
%
of
Company’s
NAV
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
million
|
£
million
|
|
£
million
|
|
|
Asset
Backed Securities*:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Auto
Loans
|
|
|
|
|
7
|
9 -
55
|
25
|
|
13
|
|
1.9%
|
CLO
|
|
|
|
|
100
|
7 -
212
|
18
|
|
250
|
|
34.5%
|
CMBS
|
|
|
|
|
7
|
9 -
65
|
31
|
|
35
|
|
4.8%
|
Consumer
ABS
|
|
|
|
|
5
|
16 -
45
|
30
|
|
14
|
|
2.0%
|
CRE
ABS
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
7 -
13
|
10
|
|
12
|
|
1.7%
|
RMBS
|
|
|
|
|
60
|
1 -
85
|
20
|
|
410
|
|
56.5%
|
Student
Loans
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
33
|
33
|
|
5
|
|
0.7%
|
|
|
|
|
|
183
|
|
|
|
739
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
*
Definition of Terms
“ABS” –
Asset-Backed Securities
“CLO” –
Collateralised Loan Obligations
“CMBS” –
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities
“CRE” –
Commercial Real Estate
“RMBS”-
Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities
“SRT” –
Significant Risk Transfer
18. Financial
Risk Management
The
Company’s objective in managing risk is the creation and protection
of Shareholder value. Risk is inherent in the Company’s activities,
but it is managed through an ongoing process of identification,
measurement and monitoring.
The
Company’s financial instruments include investments classified at
fair value through profit or loss, cash and cash equivalents,
derivative liabilities and amounts payable under repurchase
agreements. The main risks arising from the Company’s financial
instruments are market risk, credit risk and liquidity risk. The
techniques and instruments utilised for the purposes of efficient
portfolio management are those which are reasonably believed by the
Board to be economically appropriate to the efficient management of
the Company.
Market
Risk
Market
risk embodies the potential for both losses and gains and includes
currency risk, interest rate risk, reinvestment risk and price
risk. The Company’s strategy on the management of market risk is
driven by the Company’s investment objective. The Company’s
investment objective is to generate attractive risk adjusted
returns principally through investment in Asset-Backed
Securities.
The
underlying investments comprised in the portfolio are subject to
market risk. The Company is therefore at risk that market events
may affect performance and in particular may affect the value of
the Company’s investments. Market risk is risk associated with
changes in market prices or rates, including interest rates,
availability of credit, inflation rates, economic uncertainty,
changes in laws, national and international political
circumstances.
(i) Price
Risk
The price
of an Asset-Backed Security can be affected by a number of factors,
including: (i) changes in the market’s perception of the underlying
assets backing the security; (ii) economic and political factors
such as interest rates and levels of unemployment and taxation
which can have an impact on the arrears, foreclosures and losses
incurred with respect to the pool of assets backing the security;
(iii) changes in the market’s perception of the adequacy of credit
support built into the security’s structure to protect against
losses caused by arrears and foreclosures; (iv) changes in the
perceived creditworthiness of the originator of the security or any
other third parties to the transaction; and (v) the speed at which
mortgages or loans within the pool are repaid by the underlying
borrowers (whether voluntary or due to arrears or
foreclosures).
The
Company’s policy also stipulates that no more than 10% of the
portfolio value can be exposed to any single Asset-Backed Security
or issuer of Asset-Backed Securities.
(ii)
Interest Rate Risk
Interest
rate risk arises from the possibility that changes in interest
rates will affect the fair value of financial assets and
liabilities at fair value through profit or loss.
The
following tables summarise the Company’s exposure to interest rate
risk:
As
at 31 March 2024
|
Floating
rate
£
|
|
Fixed
rate
£
|
|
Non-interest
bearing
£
|
|
Total
£
|
Financial
assets at fair value through profit or loss
|
813,356,415
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
813,356,415
|
Derivative
assets
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
1,958,943
|
|
1,958,943
|
Amounts
due from broker
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
3,427,786
|
|
3,427,786
|
Other
receivables (excluding prepayments)
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
7,617,384
|
|
7,617,384
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
13,142,803
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
13,142,803
|
Repurchase
agreements
|
-
|
|
(14,090,507)
|
|
-
|
|
(14,090,507)
|
Amounts
due to brokers
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(10,596,437)
|
|
(10,596,437)
|
Other
payables
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(1,280,159)
|
|
(1,280,159)
|
Derivative
liabilities
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(20,877)
|
|
(20,877)
|
Net
assets
|
826,499,218
|
|
(14,090,507)
|
|
1,106,640
|
|
813,515,351
|
|
Floating
rate
|
|
Fixed
rate
|
|
Non-interest
bearing
|
|
Total
|
As
at 31 March 2023
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Financial
assets at fair value through profit or loss
|
739,385,970
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
739,385,970
|
Derivative
assets
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
2,281,253
|
|
2,281,253
|
Other
receivables (excluding prepayments)
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
6,870,412
|
|
6,870,412
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
27,235,318
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
27,235,318
|
Repurchase
agreements
|
-
|
|
(49,827,700)
|
|
-
|
|
(49,827,700)
|
Share
issue costs payable
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(5,219)
|
|
(5,219)
|
Other
payables
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(1,061,379)
|
|
(1,061,379)
|
Derivative
liabilities
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(1,509)
|
|
(1,509)
|
Net
assets
|
766,621,288
|
|
(49,827,700)
|
|
8,083,558
|
|
724,877,146
|
If
interest rates were to increase or decrease by 2.5%, with all other
variables held constant, the expected effect of the returns from
floating rate net assets would be a gain or loss of £20,662,480,
respectively (31 March 2023: gain or
loss of £19,165,532).
The
Company only holds floating rate financial assets and when
short-term interest rates increase, the interest rate on a floating
rate will increase. The time to re-fix interest rates ranges from 1
month to a maximum of 6 months and therefore the Company has
minimal interest rate risk. However, the Company may choose to
utilise appropriate strategies to achieve the desired level of
interest rate exposure (the Company is permitted to use, for
example, interest rate swaps to accomplish this). The value of
asset-backed securities may be affected by interest rate movements.
Interest receivable on bank deposits or payable on bank overdraft
positions will be affected by fluctuations in interest rates;
however, the underlying cash positions will not be affected. Please
see note 12 for details of the amounts payable under repurchase
agreements.
The
Company’s continuing position in relation to interest rate risk is
monitored on a weekly basis by the Portfolio Manager as part of its
review of the weekly NAV calculations prepared by the Company’s
Administrator.
(iii)
Foreign Currency Risk
Foreign
currency risk is the risk that the value of a financial instrument
will fluctuate due to changes in foreign exchange rates. The
Company invests predominantly in non-Sterling assets while its
Shares are denominated in Sterling, its expenses are incurred in
Sterling. Therefore, the Statement of Financial Position may be
significantly affected by movements in the exchange rate between
foreign currencies and Sterling. The Company manages the exposure
to currency movements by using spot and forward foreign exchange
contracts, rolling forward on a periodic basis.
|
|
|
|
|
Contract
values
|
|
Outstanding
contracts
|
|
Mark-to-market
equivalent
|
|
Unrealised
gains/(losses)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31.03.2024
|
|
31.03.2024
|
|
31.03.2024
|
|
31.03.2024
|
One Danish
Krone forward foreign currency contract:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Settlement
date 29 April 2024
|
91,000,000
kr.
|
|
£10,485,538
|
|
£10,440,444
|
|
£45,094
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Euro
forward foreign currency
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
contracts
totalling:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Settlement
date 29 April 2024
|
€510,373,983
|
|
£438,550,084
|
|
£436,669,844
|
|
£1,880,240
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One US
Dollar forward foreign currency contract:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Settlement
date 29 April 2024
|
$18,001,273
|
|
£14,281,840
|
|
£14,248,231
|
|
£33,609
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One Euro
forward foreign currency contract:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Settlement
date 29 April 2024
|
(€8,401,262)
|
|
(£7,208,896)
|
|
(£7,188,019)
|
|
(£20,877)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£1,938,066
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contract
|
|
Outstanding
contracts
|
|
Mark-to-market
equivalent
|
|
Unrealised
gains
|
|
|
|
|
|
values
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31.03.2023
|
|
31.03.2023
|
|
31.03.2023
|
|
31.03.2023
|
Three Euro
forward foreign currency
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
contracts
totalling:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Settlement
date 12 April 2023
|
€416,268,352
|
|
£368,081,043
|
|
£365,820,527
|
|
£2,260,516
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One Euro
forward foreign currency contract:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Settlement
date 12 April 2023
|
(€7,463,014)
|
|
(£6,539,339)
|
|
(£6,558,567)
|
|
£19,228
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£2,279,744
|
Contract
values represent the contract’s notional value. Outstanding
contracts are the contract’s notional values, translated at the
contracted foreign exchange rate from foreign currencies to
Sterling, or from Sterling to foreign currencies.
As at
31 March 2024 and as at 31 March 2023, the Company held the following
assets and liabilities denominated in foreign
currencies:
|
|
|
|
As
at
|
|
As
at
|
|
|
|
|
31.03.2024
|
|
31.03.2023
|
|
Danish
Krone
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
Assets/(Liabilities):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Investments
|
|
|
9,626,337
|
|
-
|
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
|
974,405
|
|
-
|
|
Other
receivables
|
|
|
185,957
|
|
-
|
|
Open
forward currency contracts
|
(10,440,444)
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
346,255
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As
at
|
|
As
at
|
|
|
|
|
|
31.03.2024
|
|
31.03.2023
|
|
Euro
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
Assets/(Liabilities):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Investments
|
|
|
435,362,991
|
|
361,420,402
|
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
|
(2,911,638)
|
|
970,272
|
|
Other
receivables
|
|
|
5,868,282
|
|
5,083,861
|
|
Amounts
due to broker
|
|
|
(10,586,437)
|
|
-
|
|
Open
forward currency contracts
|
(429,481,825)
|
|
(359,261,960)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1,748,627)
|
|
8,212,575
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As
at
|
|
As
at
|
|
|
|
|
|
31.03.2024
|
|
31.03.2023
|
|
US
Dollar
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
Assets/(Liabilities):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Investments
|
|
|
14,248,960
|
|
-
|
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
|
41,484
|
|
-
|
|
Open
forward currency contracts
|
(14,248,231)
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
42,213
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The tables
below summarise the sensitivity of the Company’s assets and
liabilities to changes in foreign exchange movements between Danish
Krone, Euro, US Dollar and Sterling at 31
March 2024 and 31 March 2023.
The analysis is based on the assumption that the relevant foreign
exchange rate increased/decreased by the percentage disclosed in
the table, with all other variables held constant. This represents
management’s best estimate of a reasonable possible shift in the
foreign exchange rates, having regard to historical volatility of
those rates.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As
at
|
|
As
at
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31.03.2024
|
|
31.03.2023
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Impact on
Statement of Comprehensive Income and Statement of Changes in
Equity in response to a:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 20%
increase in Danish Krone
|
|
|
|
|
|
(49,200)
|
|
-
|
- 20%
decrease in Danish Krone
|
|
|
|
|
|
99,327
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As
at
|
|
As
at
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31.03.2024
|
|
31.03.2023
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Impact on
Statement of Comprehensive Income and Statement of Changes in
Equity in response to a:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 20%
increase in Euro
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
563,495
|
|
(1,321,137)
|
- 20%
decrease in Euro
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(29,071)
|
|
2,123,313
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As
at
|
|
As
at
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31.03.2024
|
|
31.03.2023
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Impact on
Statement of Comprehensive Income and Statement of Changes in
Equity in response to a:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 20%
increase in US Dollar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(8,484)
|
|
-
|
- 20%
decrease in US Dollar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8,381
|
|
-
|
(iv)
Reinvestment Risk
Reinvestment
risk is the risk that future coupons from a bond will not be
reinvested at the prevailing interest rate when the bond was
initially purchased.
A key
determinant of a bond’s yield is the price at which it is purchased
and, therefore, when the market price of bonds generally increases,
the yield of bonds purchased generally decreases. As such, the
overall yield of the portfolio, and therefore the level of
dividends payable to Shareholders, would fall to the extent that
the market prices of Asset-Backed Securities generally rise and the
proceeds of Asset-Backed Securities held by the Company that mature
or are sold are not able to be reinvested in Asset-Backed
Securities with a yield comparable to that of the portfolio as a
whole.
(v) Price
Sensitivity Analysis
The
following details the Company’s sensitivity to movement in market
prices. The analysis is based on a 10% increase or decrease in
market prices. This represents management’s best estimate of a
reasonable possible shift in market prices, having regard to
historical volatility.
At
31 March 2024, if the market prices
had been 10% higher with all other variables held constant, the
increase in the net assets attributable to equity Shareholders
would have been £81,335,642 (31 March
2023: £73,938,597). An equal change in the opposite
direction would have decreased the net assets attributable to
equity Shareholders by the same amount. This price
sensitivity analysis covers the market prices received from price
vendors, brokers and those determined using models (such as
discounted cash flow models) on the assumption that the prices
determined from these sources had moved by the indicated
percentage.
As noted
in note 19, the valuation models used (typically discounted cash
flow models) include unobservable inputs that may rely on
assumptions that are subject to judgement.
Actual
trading results may differ from the above sensitivity analysis and
those differences may be material.
Credit
Risk
Credit
risk refers to the risk that a counterparty will default on its
contractual obligations resulting in financial loss to the Company.
The Company has a credit policy in place and the exposure to credit
risk is monitored on an on-going basis.
The main
concentration of credit risk to which the Company is exposed arises
from the Company’s investments in Asset-Backed Securities. The
Company is also exposed to counterparty credit risk on forwards,
cash and cash equivalents, amounts due from brokers and other
receivable balances. At the year end, none of the Company’s
investments in Asset-Backed Securities were in default
(31 March 2023: none).
The
Company’s policy to manage this risk is by no more than 20% of the
portfolio value being backed by collateral in any single country
(save that this restriction will not apply to Northern European
countries). The Company also manages this credit risk by no more
than 10% of the portfolio being exposed to any single Asset-Backed
Security or issuer of Asset-Backed Securities, no more than 40% of
the portfolio being exposed to issues with a value greater than 5%,
and no more than 10% of the portfolio value being exposed to
instruments not deemed securities for the purposes of the Financial
Services and Market Act 2000.
Portfolio
of Asset-Backed Securities by ratings category using the highest
rating assigned by Standard and Poor’s (“S&P”), Moody’s
Analytics (“Moody’s”) or Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”):
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
AAA
|
-
|
|
0.23%
|
AA
|
-
|
|
0.68%
|
AA-
|
2.42%
|
|
1.92%
|
A+
|
3.62%
|
|
3.82%
|
A
|
2.31%
|
|
2.93%
|
A-
|
3.00%
|
|
2.95%
|
BBB+
|
6.83%
|
|
8.47%
|
BBB
|
1.77%
|
|
1.73%
|
BBB-
|
4.10%
|
|
4.90%
|
BB+
|
8.62%
|
|
5.37%
|
BB
|
4.65%
|
|
3.71%
|
BB-
|
12.78%
|
|
10.58%
|
B+
|
4.70%
|
|
5.94%
|
B
|
5.35%
|
|
5.04%
|
B-
|
12.26%
|
|
10.81%
|
CCC
|
-
|
|
0.17%
|
CCC-
|
0.59%
|
|
-
|
NR*
|
27.00%
|
|
30.75%
|
|
100.00%
|
|
100.00%
|
*The
non-rated exposure within the Company is managed in exactly the
same way as the exposure to any other rated bond in the portfolio.
A bond not rated by any of Moody’s, S&P or Fitch does not
necessarily translate as poor credit quality. Often smaller
issues/tranches, or private deals which the Company holds, won’t
apply for a rating due to the cost of doing so from the relevant
credit agencies. The Portfolio Manager has no credit concerns with
the unrated, or rated, bonds currently held. The Portfolio Manager
will estimate an internal rating for unrated bonds by considering
all relevant factors, including but not limited to, the
relationship between the bond’s maturity and its price and/or
yield, the ratings of comparable bonds, and the issuer’s financial
statements; however, this is not used for any investment
monitoring, reporting or otherwise.
To further
minimise credit risk, the Portfolio Manager undertakes extensive
due diligence procedures on investments in Asset-Backed Securities
and monitors the on-going investment in these securities. The
Company may also use credit default swaps to mitigate the effects
of market volatility on credit risk.
The
Company manages its counterparty exposure in respect of cash and
cash equivalents and forwards by investing with counterparties with
a “single A” or higher credit rating. All cash is currently placed
with The Northern Trust Company. The Company is subject to credit
risk to the extent that this institution may be unable to return
this cash. The Northern Trust Company is a wholly owned subsidiary
of The Northern Trust Corporation. The Northern Trust Corporation
is publicly traded and a constituent of the S&P 500. The
Northern Trust Corporation has a credit rating of A+ from Standard
& Poor's and A2 from Moody's.
The
Company’s maximum credit exposure is limited to the carrying amount
of financial assets recognised as at the Statement of Financial
Position date, as summarised below:
|
As
at
|
|
As
at
|
|
31.03.24
|
|
31.03.23
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Investments
|
813,356,415
|
|
739,385,970
|
Cash
and
cash
equivalents
|
13,142,803
|
|
27,235,318
|
Unrealised
gains
on
derivative
assets
|
1,958,943
|
|
2,281,253
|
Amounts
due
from
broker
|
3,427,786
|
|
-
|
Other
receivables
(excluding
prepayments)
|
7,617,384
|
|
6,870,412
|
|
839,503,331
|
|
775,772,953
|
Investments
in Asset-Backed Securities that are not backed by mortgages present
certain risks that are not presented by Mortgage-Backed Securities
(“MBS”). Primarily, these securities may not have the benefit of
the same security interest in the related collateral. Therefore,
there is a possibility that recoveries on defaulted collateral may
not, in some cases, be available to support payments on these
securities. The risk of investing in these types of Asset-Backed
Securities is ultimately dependent upon payment of the underlying
debt by the debtor.
The
Company has assessed credit default risk affecting the entity and
concluded that any sensitivity analysis would be
immaterial.
Liquidity
Risk
Liquidity
risk is the risk that the Company may not be able to generate
sufficient cash resources to settle its obligations in full as they
fall due or can only do so on terms that are materially
disadvantageous.
Investments
made by the Company in Asset-Backed Securities may be relatively
illiquid and this may limit the ability of the Company to realise
its investments. Investments in Asset-Backed Securities may also
have no active market and the Company also has no redemption rights
in respect of these investments. The Company has the ability to
borrow to ensure sufficient cash flows.
The
Portfolio Manager considers expected cash flows from financial
assets in assessing and managing liquidity risk, in particular its
cash resources and trade receivables. Cash flows from trade and
other receivables are all contractually due within twelve
months.
The
Portfolio Manager maintains a liquidity management policy to
monitor the liquidity risk of the Company.
Repurchase
agreements may be entered into in respect of securities owned by
the Company which are sold to and repurchased from counterparties
on contractually agreed dates and the cash generated from these
arrangements can be used for short-term liquidity.
Shareholders
have no right to have their shares redeemed or repurchased by the
Company, however Shareholders may elect to realise their holdings
as detailed under note 13 and the Capital Risk Management section
of this note.
Shareholders
wishing to release their investment in the Company are therefore
required to dispose of their shares on the market. Therefore, there
is no risk that the Company will not be able to fund redemption
requests.
|
Up
to 1
month
£
|
|
1-6
months
£
|
|
6-12
months
£
|
|
Total
£
|
As
at
31
March
2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Repurchase
agreements
|
-
|
|
(14,090,507)
|
|
-
|
|
(14,090,507)
|
Unrealised
loss
on
derivative
liabilities
|
(20,877)
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(20,877)
|
Amounts
due
to
broker
|
(10,596,437)
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(10,596,437)
|
Other
payables
|
(1,124,159)
|
|
(156,000)
|
|
-
|
|
(1,280,159)
|
Total
|
(11,741,473)
|
|
(14,246,507)
|
|
-
|
|
(25,987,980)
|
|
Up
to 1
month
|
|
1-6
months
|
|
6-12
months
|
|
Total
|
As
at
31
March
2023
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Financial
liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Repurchase
agreements
|
-
|
|
(49,827,700)
|
|
-
|
|
(49,827,700)
|
Unrealised
loss
on
derivative
liabilities
|
(1,509)
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(1,509)
|
Share
issue
costs
payable
|
(5,219)
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(5,219)
|
Director
fees
payable
|
(12,629)
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(12,629)
|
Other
payables
|
(912,361)
|
|
(136,389)
|
|
-
|
|
(1,048,750)
|
Total
|
(931,718)
|
|
(49,964,089)
|
|
-
|
|
(50,895,807)
|
There was
an increase in repurchase agreements for the year ended
31 March 2023, which was prompted by
an opportunity to finance purchasing of bonds during the
liability-driven investment crisis to take advantage of higher
available yields.
Capital
Risk Management
The
Company manages its capital to ensure that it is able to continue
as a going concern while following the Company’s stated investment
policy and when considering and approving dividend payments. The
capital structure of the Company consists of Shareholders’ equity,
which comprises share capital and other reserves. To maintain or
adjust the capital structure, the Company may return capital to
Shareholders or issue new Ordinary Shares. There are no regulatory
requirements to return capital to Shareholders.
(i)
Share Buybacks
The
Company has been granted the authority to make market purchases of
up to a maximum of 14.99% of the aggregate number of Ordinary
Shares in issue immediately following Admission at a price not
exceeding the higher of (i) 5% above the average of the mid-market
values of the Ordinary Shares for the 5 business days before the
purchase is made or, (ii) the higher of the price of the last
independent trade and the highest current investment bid for the
Ordinary Shares.
In
deciding whether to make any such purchases, the Directors will
have regard to what they believe to be in the best interests of
Shareholders as a whole, to the applicable legal requirements and
any other requirements in its Articles. The making and timing of
any buybacks will be at the absolute discretion of the Board and
not at the option of the Shareholders, and is expressly subject to
the Company having sufficient surplus cash resources available
(excluding borrowed moneys).
(ii)
Realisation Opportunity
The
Realisation Opportunity shall be at the annual general meeting of
the Company in each third year. On 21
October 2022, the Company concluded its most recent
Realisation Opportunity. The next Realisation Opportunity is
expected to take place in Autumn 2025, subject to the aggregate NAV
of the Continuing Ordinary Shares on the last Business Day before
Reorganisation being not less than £100 million.
It is
anticipated that realisations will be satisfied by the assets
underlying the relevant shares being managed on a realisation
basis, which is intended to generate cash for distribution as soon
as practicable and may ultimately generate cash which is less than
the published NAV per Realisation Share.
In the
event that the Realisation takes place, it is anticipated that the
ability of the Company to make returns of cash to the holders of
Realisation Shares will depend in part on the ability of the
Portfolio Manager to realise the portfolio.
(iii)
Continuation Votes
In the
event that the Company does not meet the dividend target in any
financial reporting period as disclosed in note 21, the Directors
shall propose an Ordinary Resolution that the Company continues its
business as a closed-ended collective investment scheme at the
Annual General Meeting following that financial reporting
period.
19.
Fair Value Measurement
All assets
and liabilities are carried at fair value or at amortised
cost.
IFRS 13
requires the Company to classify fair value measurements using a
fair value hierarchy that reflects the significance of the inputs
used in making the measurements. The fair value hierarchy has the
following levels:
(i) Quoted
prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or
liabilities (Level 1).
(ii)
Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are
observable for the asset or liability, either directly (that is, as
prices) or indirectly (that is, derived from prices including
interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds,
credit risks and default rates) or other market corroborated inputs
(Level 2).
(iii)
Inputs for the asset or liability that are not based on observable
market data (that is, unobservable inputs) (Level 3).
The
following tables analyse within the fair value hierarchy the
Company’s financial assets and liabilities (by class) measured at
fair value for the year ended 31 March
2024 and year ended 31 March
2023.
|
|
Level
1
|
|
Level
2
|
|
Level
3
|
|
Total
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
assets at fair value through profit or loss:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asset-Backed
Securities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Auto
Loans
|
|
-
|
|
27,531,003
|
|
-
|
|
27,531,003
|
CLO
|
|
-
|
|
302,173,103
|
|
-
|
|
302,173,103
|
CMBS
|
|
-
|
|
26,496,489
|
|
-
|
|
26,496,489
|
Consumer
ABS
|
|
-
|
|
15,682,235
|
|
-
|
|
15,682,235
|
RMBS
|
|
-
|
|
222,368,778
|
|
183,915,529
|
|
406,284,307
|
SRT
|
|
-
|
|
30,840,110
|
|
-
|
|
30,840,110
|
Student
Loans
|
|
-
|
|
4,349,168
|
|
-
|
|
4,349,168
|
Forward
currency contracts
|
|
-
|
|
1,958,943
|
|
-
|
|
1,958,943
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
631,399,829
|
|
183,915,529
|
|
815,315,358
|
Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
liabilities at fair value through profit or loss:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forward
currency contracts
|
-
|
|
20,877
|
|
-
|
|
20,877
|
|
-
|
|
20,877
|
|
-
|
|
20,877
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Level
1
|
|
Level
2
|
|
Level
3
|
|
Total
|
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
assets at fair value through profit or loss:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asset-Backed
Securities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Auto
Loans
|
|
-
|
|
13,473,200
|
|
-
|
|
13,473,200
|
CLO
|
|
-
|
|
249,763,889
|
|
-
|
|
249,763,889
|
CMBS
|
|
-
|
|
34,835,106
|
|
-
|
|
34,835,106
|
Consumer
ABS
|
|
-
|
|
14,143,352
|
|
-
|
|
14,143,352
|
CRE
ABS
|
|
-
|
|
12,224,121
|
|
-
|
|
12,224,121
|
RMBS
|
|
-
|
|
202,733,570
|
|
207,207,308
|
|
409,940,878
|
Student
Loans
|
|
-
|
|
5,005,424
|
|
-
|
|
5,005,424
|
Forward
currency contracts
|
|
-
|
|
2,281,253
|
|
-
|
|
2,281,253
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
534,459,915
|
|
207,207,308
|
|
741,667,223
|
Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
liabilities at fair value through profit or loss:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forward
currency contracts
|
-
|
|
1,509
|
|
-
|
|
1,509
|
Total
liabilities as at 31 March 2023
|
-
|
|
1,509
|
|
-
|
|
1,509
|
Asset-Backed
Securities which have a value based on quoted market prices in
active markets are classified in Level 1. At the end of the year,
no Asset-Backed Securities held by the Company are classified as
Level 1.
ABS which
are not traded or dealt on organised markets or exchanges are
classified in Level 2 or Level 3. ABS with prices obtained from
independent price vendors, where the Portfolio Manager is able to
assess whether the observable inputs used for their modelling of
prices are accurate and the Portfolio Manager has the ability to
challenge these vendors with further observable inputs, are
classified as Level 2. Prices obtained from vendors who are not
easily challengeable or transparent in showing their assumptions
for the method of pricing these assets, are classified as Level 3.
Asset-Backed Securities priced at an average of two vendors’ prices
are classified as Level 3.
Where the
Portfolio Manager determines that the price obtained from an
independent price vendor is not an accurate representation of the
fair value of the ABS, the Portfolio Manager may source prices from
third-party broker or dealer quotes and if the price represents a
reliable and an observable price, the ABS is classified as Level 2.
Any broker quote that is over 20 days old is considered stale and
is classified as Level 3. Any stale price within the portfolio as
at 31 March 2024 has been assessed by
the Portfolio Manager and the resulting valuation considered a fair
value at that date. Furthermore, the Portfolio Manager may
determine that the application of a mark-to-model basis may be
appropriate where they believe such a model will result in more
reliable information with regards to the fair value of any specific
investments.
The
Portfolio Manager has engaged a third-party valuer for certain
specific assets where the Portfolio Manager believes the
third-party valuer would provide more reliable, fair value
information with regards to certain of the Company’s investments
for the year ended 31 March
2024. The
valuation of these assets and others that the Portfolio Manager may
deem appropriate to provide a valuation at fair value,
primarily
use discounted cash flow analysis but may also include the use of a
comparable arm's length transaction, reference to other securities
that are substantially the same, and other valuation techniques
commonly used by market participants making the maximum use of
market inputs and relying as little as possible on entity-specific
inputs. The discounted cash flow models include assumptions that
are subject to judgement such as prepayment rates, recovery rates
and the discount margin/discount rate. As at 31 March 2024, investments (related primarily to
RMBS/MBS investments) totalling 19.12% (31
March 2023: 21.73%) of the portfolio were valued by the
third-party valuer. Valuations performed by the third-party valuer
are classified as Level 3.
Please see
note 3 (ii) for the accounting policy outlining the treatment fair
value of securities not quoted in an active market.
The tables
below represent the significant unobservable inputs used in the fair
value measurement of Level 3 investments, valued by a third-party
valuer, together with a quantitative sensitivity analysis as of
31 March 2024 and 31 March 2023:
31
March 2024
|
Fair
Value (£)
|
|
Financial
Assets/Liabilities
|
|
Unobservable
Input
|
|
Sensitivity
Used
|
|
Effect
on Fair Value (£)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dutch
RMBS
|
54,142,754
|
|
Financial
Asset
|
|
Discount
Margin (965 bps)
|
+5% /
-5%
|
|
6,871,331
|
/
|
(5,477,982)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UK
RMBS
|
64,557,878
|
|
Financial
Asset
|
|
Discount
Margin
(179bps/
950bps/ 1025 bps/ 1060bps)
|
|
+5% /
-5%
|
|
5,712,626
|
/
|
(4,538,301)
|
UK RMBS
(underlying risk - AAA)
|
36,853,297
|
|
Financial
Asset
|
|
Discount
Margin (300 bps/ 351 bps)
|
+3% /
-3%
|
|
3,338,550
|
/
|
(2,880,236)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31
March 2023
|
Fair
Value (£)
|
|
Financial
Assets/Liabilities
|
|
Unobservable
Input
|
|
Sensitivity
Used
|
|
Effect
on Fair Value (£)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dutch
RMBS
|
42,531,838
|
|
Financial
Asset
|
|
Discount
Margin
(1065
bps)
|
|
+5% /
-5%
|
|
6,826,229
|
/
|
(5,364,235)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UK
RMBS
|
103,350,298
|
|
Financial
Asset
|
|
Discount
Margin
(933 bps/
950 bps/
1150 bps/
1185 bps)
|
|
+5% /
-5%
|
|
12,567,742
|
/
|
(8,660,011)
|
UK RMBS
(underlying risk - AAA)
|
14,782,507
|
|
Financial
Asset
|
|
Discount
Margin (431 bps)
|
+3% /
-3%
|
|
1,429,217
|
/
|
(1,223,561)
|
Although
various variable inputs are used in the valuation models of these
investments, including constant default rate, the only unobservable
input that may have a material impact is the discount margin. As a
result, only this input has been disclosed.
Please
refer to the price sensitivity analysis disclosed in note 18 where
the price sensitivity related to market risk has been
disclosed.
The above
sensitivity analysis has been completed on those assets valued by
the third-party valuer. For the remaining assets classified as
Level 3 at 31 March 2024 totalling
£28.3 million (2023: £46.5 million), no meaningful sensitivity on
inputs can be performed due to the unobservable nature of the
pricing. The valuations of these positions are provided monthly
from external sources.
During the
year, there were no transfers between Level 2 and Level 3 (year
ended 31 March 2023:
none).
The
following tables present the movement in Level 3 instruments for
the year ended 31 March 2024 and year
ended 31 March 2023 by class of
financial instrument.
|
Opening
balance
|
Total
purchases
|
Total
sales
|
Realised
gains on
Level
3 Investments
held
during the year
ended
31 March 2024
|
Realised
losses on Level 3 Investments held during the period ended 31 March
2024
|
|
Unrealised
gains for the year
for
Level 3 Investments held
at
31 March 2024
|
Unrealised
losses for the year
for
Level 3 Investments held
at
31 March 2024
|
Transfer
into Level 3
|
Transfer
out Level 3
|
Closing
balance
|
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
RMBS
|
207,207,308
|
68,388,091
|
(111,175,331)
|
2,023,664
|
(15,796,291)
|
|
36,159,879
|
(2,891,791)
|
-
|
-
|
183,915,529
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
at 31 March 2024
|
207,207,308
|
68,388,091
|
(111,175,331)
|
2,023,664
|
(15,796,291)
|
|
36,159,879
|
(2,891,791)
|
-
|
-
|
183,915,529
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Opening
balance
|
Total
purchases
|
Total
sales
|
Realised
gains on
Level
3 Investments
held
during the year
ended
31 March 2023
|
Realised
losses on Level 3 Investments held during the year ended 31 March
2023
|
Unrealised
gains for the year
for
Level 3 Investments held
at
31 March 2023
|
Unrealised
losses for the year
for
Level 3 Investments held
at
31 March 2023
|
Transfer
into Level 3
|
Transfer
out Level 3
|
Closing
balance
|
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RMBS
|
192,389,060
|
194,765,464
|
(158,397,907)
|
31,414,705
|
(25,738,076)
|
|
29,880,198
|
(57,106,136)
|
-
|
-
|
207,207,308
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
at 31 March 2023
|
192,389,060
|
194,765,464
|
(158,397,907)
|
31,414,705
|
(25,738,076)
|
29,880,198
|
(57,106,136)
|
-
|
-
|
207,207,308
|
The
following tables analyse within the fair value hierarchy the
Company’s assets and liabilities not measured at fair value at
31 March 2024 and 31 March 2023 but for which fair value is
disclosed.
The assets
and liabilities included in the below table are carried at
amortised cost; their carrying values are a reasonable
approximation of fair value.
Cash and
cash equivalents include cash in hand and deposits held with
banks.
Amounts
due to broker and other payables represent the contractual amounts
and obligations due by the Company for settlement of trades and
expenses. Amounts due from brokers and other receivables represent
the contractual amounts and rights due to the Company for
settlement of trades and income.
|
Level
1
|
|
Level
2
|
|
Level
3
|
|
Total
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
13,142,803
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
13,142,803
|
Amounts
due from broker
|
-
|
|
3,427,786
|
|
-
|
|
3,427,786
|
Other
receivables (excluding prepayments)
|
-
|
|
7,617,384
|
|
-
|
|
7,617,384
|
Total
assets as at 31 March 2024
|
13,142,803
|
|
11,045,170
|
|
-
|
|
24,187,973
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amounts
payable under repurchase agreements
|
-
|
|
14,090,507
|
|
-
|
|
14,090,507
|
Amounts
due to broker
|
-
|
|
10,596,437
|
|
-
|
|
10,596,437
|
Other
payables
|
-
|
|
1,280,159
|
|
-
|
|
1,280,159
|
Total
liabilities as at 31 March 2024
|
-
|
|
25,967,103
|
|
-
|
|
25,967,103
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Level
1
|
|
Level
2
|
|
Level
3
|
|
Total
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
|
£
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
27,235,318
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
27,235,318
|
Other
receivables (excluding prepayments)
|
-
|
|
6,870,412
|
|
-
|
|
6,870,412
|
Total
assets as at 31 March 2023
|
27,235,318
|
|
6,870,412
|
|
-
|
|
34,105,730
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amounts
payable under repurchase agreements
|
-
|
|
49,827,700
|
|
-
|
|
49,827,700
|
Share
issue costs payable
|
-
|
|
5,219
|
|
-
|
|
5,219
|
Other
payables
|
-
|
|
1,061,379
|
|
-
|
|
1,061,379
|
Total
liabilities as at 31 March 2023
|
-
|
|
50,894,298
|
|
-
|
|
50,894,298
|
20. Segmental
Reporting
The Board
is responsible for reviewing the Company’s entire portfolio and
considers the business to have a single operating segment. The
Board’s asset allocation decisions are based on a single,
integrated investment strategy, and the Company’s performance is
evaluated on an overall basis.
Revenue
earned is reported separately on the face of the Statement of
Comprehensive Income as investment income being interest income
received from Asset-Backed Securities.
21. Dividend
Policy
The Board
intends to distribute an amount at least equal to the value of the
Company’s income available for distribution arising each quarter to
the holders of Ordinary Shares. For these purposes, the Company’s
income will include the interest payable by the Asset-Backed
Securities in the Portfolio and the amortisation of any discount or
premium to par at which an Asset-Backed Security is purchased over
its remaining expected life, prior to its maturity. However, there
is no guarantee that the dividend target for future financial years
will be met or that the Company shall pay any dividends at
all.
On
24 February 2023, the annual dividend
was changed from 7% to 8% (the equivalent of 8 pence per Ordinary Share) or higher of the
Issue Price. The change became effective from the dividend declared
in respect of the 3-month period ended 31
March 2023.
Dividends
paid with respect to any quarter comprise (a) the accrued income of
the portfolio for the year, and (b) an additional amount to reflect
any income purchased in the course of any share subscriptions that
took place during the year. Including purchased income in this way
ensures that the income yield of the shares is not diluted as a
consequence of the issue of new shares during an income period and
(c) any income on the foreign exchange contracts created by the
SONIA differentials between each foreign currency pair, less (d)
total expenditure for the year.
The
Company, being a Guernsey-regulated entity, is able to pay
dividends out of capital. Nonetheless, the Board carefully
considers any dividend payments made to ensure the Company's
capital is maintained in the longer term. Careful consideration is
also given to ensuring sufficient cash is available to meet the
Company's liabilities as they fall due.
The Board
expects that dividends will constitute the principal element of the
return to the holders of Ordinary Shares.
Under The
Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008, the Company can distribute
dividends from capital and revenue reserves, subject to the net
asset and solvency test. The net asset and solvency test considers
whether a company is able to pay its debts when they fall due, and
whether the value of a company’s assets is greater than its
liabilities. The Board confirms that the Company passed the net
asset and solvency test for each dividend paid.
The
Company declared the following dividends during the year ended 31
March 2024:
Period
to
|
Dividend
rate per Ordinary Share (£)
|
Net
dividend payable (£)
|
Ex-dividend
date
|
Record
date
|
Pay
date
|
31 March
2023
|
0.0446
|
32,483,816
|
20 April
2023
|
21 April
2023
|
3 May
2023
|
30 June
2023*
|
0.0200
|
14,956,733
|
20 July
2023
|
21 July
2023
|
4 August
2023
|
30
September 2023*
|
0.0200
|
14,956,733
|
19 October
2023
|
20 October
2023
|
3 November
2023
|
31
December 2023*
|
0.0200
|
14,956,733
|
18 January
2024
|
19 January
2024
|
2 February
2024
|
|
|
77,354,015
|
|
|
|
31 March
2024*
|
0.0396
|
29,614,332
|
18 April
2024
|
19 April
2024
|
3 May
2024
|
*These
dividends were declared in respect of distributable profit for the
year ended 31 March 2024.
22. Ultimate
Controlling Party
In the
opinion of the Directors on the basis of shareholdings advised to
them, the Company has no ultimate controlling party.
23.
Significant
Events During the Year
Events
arising in Ukraine, as a result of military action being undertaken
by Russia in 2022, may impact on securities directly or indirectly
related to companies domiciled in Russia and/or listed on exchanges
located in Russia (“Russian Securities”). As at 31 March 2024, the
Company does not have any direct exposure to securities in either
region.
In early
October 2023, the situation in Israel and Gaza escalated
significantly with the Hamas attacks and resulting Israeli military
action in Gaza, and subsequent global government reactions
dominated news flow. As at 31 March 2024, the Company does not have
any direct exposure to securities in either region. The Directors
are monitoring developments related to this military action,
including current and potential future interventions of foreign
governments and economic sanctions.
During the
year, asset managers within the UK and Europe have seen increased
pressure from stakeholders to assess and disclose the impact of
climate change on investment portfolios. The Portfolio Manager has
a formalised approach to the risk integrated within a robust ESG
framework which is a major factor in the Portfolio Manager’s
investment analysis. The Board continues to evaluate what aspects
the Company will consider reporting, based on the regulatory
requirements of the Company and developing best practice in the
Company’s sector.
24. Subsequent
Events
These
Audited Financial Statements were approved for issuance by the
Board on 10 July 2024. Subsequent events have been evaluated until
this date.
On 5 April
2024, Joanne Fintzen, Senior Independent Director of the Company,
purchased 47,722 Ordinary Shares, increasing her shareholding in
the Company to 86,260 Ordinary Shares.
On 11
April 2024, the Company declared a dividend of 3.96p per Ordinary
Share, which was paid on 3 May 2024.
Effective
21 June 2024, Waystone Management Company (IE) Limited was
appointed as the new AIFM of the Company.
As at 5
July 2024, the published NAV per Ordinary Share for the Company was
109.90p. This represents an increase of 1.02% (NAV as at 31 March
2024: 108.79p).
GLOSSARY
OF TERMS AND ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Alternative
Performance Measures (“APMs”)
In
accordance with ESMA Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures
("APMs"), the Board has considered what APMs are included in the
Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements which require
further clarification. APMs are defined as a financial measure of
historical or future financial performance, financial position or
cash flows, other than a financial measure defined or specified in
the applicable financial reporting framework. The APMs included in
the annual report and accounts, is unaudited and outside the scope
of IFRS.
Discount/Premium
If the
share price of an investment company is lower than the NAV per
Ordinary Share, the shares are said to be trading at a discount.
The size of the discount is calculated by subtracting the share
price from the NAV per Ordinary Share and is usually expressed as a
percentage of the NAV per Ordinary Share. If the share price is
higher than the NAV per Ordinary Share, the shares are said to be
trading at a premium.
|
31.03.2024
pence
|
31.03.2023
pence
|
Share
price
|
104.80
|
100.50
|
NAV
per
Ordinary
Share
(a)
|
108.79
|
100.97
|
Discount
to
NAV
(b)
|
(3.99)
|
(0.47)
|
Discount
as
a
percentage
(b/a)
|
(3.67%)
|
(0.47%)
|
Average
Discount/Premium
The
discount or premium is calculated as described above at the close
of business on every Friday that is also a business day, as well as
the last business day of every month, and an average taken for the
year.
Dividends
Declared
Dividends
declared are the dividends that are announced in respect of the
current accounting period. They usually consist of 4 dividends:
three interim dividends in respect of the periods to June,
September and December. On 24 February 2023, the fixed interim
dividend increased to 2.00 pence per Ordinary Share. A fourth
quarter dividend is declared in respect of March where the residual
income for the year is distributed.
Dividend
Yield
Dividend
yield is the percentage of dividends declared in respect of the
period, divided by the initial share issue price of 100.00 pence.
The strategy aims to generate an annual dividend of 6 pence per
Ordinary Share or higher, as the Directors determine at their
absolute discretion from time to time, with all excess income being
distributed to investors at the year end of the Company.
Net
Asset Value (“NAV”)
NAV is the
net assets attributable to Shareholders. NAV is calculated using
the accounting standards specified by International Financial
Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and consists of total assets, less
total liabilities.
NAV
per Ordinary Share
NAV per
Ordinary Share is the net assets attributable to Shareholders,
expressed as an amount per individual share. NAV per Ordinary Share
is calculated by dividing the total net asset value of £813,539,986
(2023: £724,982,762) by the number of Ordinary Shares at the end of
the year of 747,836,661 units (2023: 718,036,661). This produces a
NAV per Ordinary Share of 108.79p (2023: 100.97p), which was an
increase of 7.74% (2023: decrease of 10.21%).
Ongoing
Charges
The
ongoing charges represent the Company’s management fee and all
other operating expenses, excluding finance costs, share issue or
buyback costs and non-recurring legal and professional fees,
expressed as a percentage of the average of the weekly net assets
during the year. The Board continues to be conscious of expenses
and works hard to maintain a sensible balance between good quality
service and cost.
Total
NAV Return per Ordinary Share
Total NAV
return per Ordinary Share is calculated by adding the increase or
decrease in NAV per Ordinary Share to the dividends paid per
Ordinary Share and dividing it by the NAV per Ordinary Share at the
start of the year.
|
31.03.2024
pence
|
31.03.2023
pence
|
Opening
NAV
per
share
(a)
|
100.97
|
112.45
|
Closing
NAV
per
share
|
108.79
|
100.97
|
Increase/(decrease)
in
NAV
per
share
(b)
|
7.82
|
(11.48)
|
Dividends
paid
per
Ordinary
Share
(c)
|
10.46
|
7.27
|
Total
NAV
return
((b+c)/a)
|
18.10%
|
(3.74%)
|
Portfolio
Performance
Portfolio
performance is calculated by summing interest earned, realised and
unrealised gains or losses on investments, less unrealised foreign
exchange gains or losses on investments during the year and divided
by the closing book cost for the year, stated as a
percentage.
|
31.03.2024
£
|
31.03.2023
£
|
Interest
income
earned
|
74,803,793
|
64,542,727
|
Realised
gains/(losses)
on
investments
|
53,903,533
|
(70,193,539)
|
Unrealised
foreign
exchange
(losses)/gains
on
investments
|
(6,323,259)
|
4,205,417
|
Total
portfolio
income
(a)
|
135,030,585
|
(9,856,229)
|
Closing
portfolio
book
cost
(b)
|
815,142,981
|
832,506,047
|
Portfolio
performance
(a/b)
|
16.57%
|
(1.17%)
|
Repurchase
Agreement Borrowing
Repurchase
agreement borrowing is calculated by taking the fair value of
repurchase agreements, divided by the fair value of investments,
stated as a percentage.
|
31.03.2024
£
|
31.03.2023
£
|
Amounts
payable
under
repurchase
agreements
(a)
|
14,090,507
|
49,827,700
|
Investments
at
fair
value
through
profit
or
loss
(b)
|
813,356,415
|
739,385,970
|
Repurchase
agreement
borrowing
(a/b)
|
1.73%
|
6.74%
|
CORPORATE
INFORMATION
Directors
Bronwyn
Curtis (Chair)
John de
Garis
Joanne
Fintzen (Senior Independent Director)
Paul Le
Page
John Le
Poidevin
Richard
Burwood (retired 14 September 2023)
Registered
Office
PO Box
255
Trafalgar
Court
Les
Banques
St Peter
Port
Guernsey,
GY1 3QL
|
UK
Legal Advisers to the Company
Hogan
Lovells International LLP
Atlantic
House
Holborn
Viaduct
London,
EC1A 2FG
Eversheds
Sutherland (International) LLP
1 Wood
Street
London,
EC2V 7WS
Administrator
and Company Secretary
Northern
Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey)
Limited
PO Box
255
Trafalgar
Court
Les
Banques
St Peter
Port
Guernsey,
GY1 3QL
|
Alternative
Investment Fund Manager (“AIFM”)
Up
until 21 June 2024
Apex
Fundrock Limited
(previously
called Maitland Institutional Services Limited)
Hamilton
Centre
Rodney
Way
Chelmsford,
CM1 3BY
Effective
21 June 2024
Waystone
Management Company (IE) Limited
35
Shelbourne Road
Ballsbridge
Dublin
Ireland
|
Financial
Adviser and Corporate Broker
Deutsche
Numis
45 Gresham
Street
London,
EC2V 7BF
Independent
Auditor
KPMG
Channel Islands Limited
Glategny
Court
Glategny
Esplanade
St Peter
Port
Guernsey,
GY1 1WR
|
Portfolio
Manager
TwentyFour
Asset Management LLP
8th Floor,
The Monument Building
11
Monument Street
London,
EC3R 8AF
|
Receiving
Agent
Computershare
Investor Services PLC
The
Pavilions
Bridgwater
Road
Bristol,
BS13 8AE
|
Custodian,
Principal Banker and Depositary
Northern
Trust (Guernsey) Limited
PO Box
71
Trafalgar
Court
Les
Banques
St Peter
Port
Guernsey,
GY1 3DA
|
Registrar
Computershare
Investor Services (Guernsey) Limited
1st
Floor
Tudor
House
Le
Bordage
St Peter
Port
Guernsey,
GY1 1DB
|
Guernsey
Legal Adviser to the Company
Carey
Olsen
Carey
House
Les
Banques
St Peter
Port
Guernsey,
GY1 4BZ
|
|
|
|