ATY Athelney Trust Plc

TIDMATY

RNS Number : 6651V

Athelney Trust PLC

04 December 2019

Athelney Trust PLC

Legal Entity Identifier:

213800ON67TJC7F4DL05

The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 254p at 30 November 2019.

Fund Manager's comment for November 2019

Minutes from the recent FOMC meeting indicated the Fed is content to remain on the side lines for the rest of this year as the looser financial conditions resulting from rate cuts at three consecutive meetings feed through to the economy. This sentiment is echoed by other Central banks with the Bank of England and the Reserve Bank of Australia opting to keep their official Bank Rate at 0.75%. Global markets continued their upward trend in November as consumer confidence in the US remained high on the back of low interest rates, low gasoline prices and a stock market near record highs.

Politics continues to dominate the equity markets. In the U.K. a series of recent election polls continue to show Boris Johnson's Conservative Party has a significant lead over the opposition Labour Party. The current margin of support points to a parliamentary majority for the Conservatives which will allow them to execute their Brexit plan. However, much can still change before the election on 12 December 2019. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition is on a knife edge and in spite of the release of recent data showing a slight rebound in business confidence, economic growth is likely to be sluggish.

After falling by 3.7% in October, energy commodity prices increased by 5.3% in November resulting in a year to date increase of 2.7%. Non energy commodities did not perform quite as well, increasing by 2.3% and are currently up by 1.9% year to date.

The major world markets as represented by the MSCI World Index and the S&P 500 continued their upward trend in November with these indices up by 2.63% and 3.40% respectively. The UK, European and Asian markets were also stronger. In the UK, the FTSE increased by 1.35% in local currency terms with the Small Cap Index up by 3.03%. The AIM All Share Index was the best performing of the UK indices, increasing by 3.25% while the Fledgling Index increased by only 1.0%.

Our portfolio of investments performed much better than the market, increasing by 5.64% during the month which, after allowing for expenses resulted in a 5.44% improvement in the NAV. We utilised some of our surplus cash, adding to our position in Close Brothers, XP Power and LXI Reit during the month. Cash held currently comprises 3.9% of the portfolio.

Fact Sheet

An accompanying fact sheet which includes the information above as well as wider details on the portfolio can be found on the Fund's website www.athelneytrust.co.uk under "Portfolio Details".

Background Information

Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl

Manny is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of E C Pohl & Co ("ECP"), an investment management company and has been a major shareholder in Athelney trust for many years.

E C Pohl & co is licensed by the Australian Financial services (licence no.421704).

www.ecpohl.com

www.ecpam.com

Manny Pohl and the ECP group has over AU$1000m under its management including four listed investment companies, three listed in Australia and one in the UK:

   --    Flagship Investments (ASX code:FSI) 

AUD56m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au

   --    Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST) 

AUD25m www.barrackst.com

   --    Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL) 

AUD27m www.globalmastersfund.com.au

   --    Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY) 

GBP5m www.athelneytrust.co.uk

Athelney Trust plc Investment Policy

The investment objective of the Trust is to provide shareholders with prospects of long-term capital growth with the risks inherent in small cap investment minimised through a spread of holdings in quality small cap companies that operate in various industries and sectors. The Fund Manager also considers that it is important to maintain a progressive dividend record.

The assets of the Trust are allocated predominantly to companies with either a full listing on the London Stock Exchange or a trading facility on AIM or ISDX. The assets of the Trust have been allocated in two main ways: first, to the shares of those companies which have grown steadily over the years in terms of profits and dividends but, despite this progress, the market rating is favourable when compared to future earnings and dividends; second, to those companies whose shares are standing at a favourable level compared with the value of land, buildings or cash in the balance sheet.

Athelney Trust was founded in 1994. In 1996 it was one of the ten pioneer members of the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). In 2008 the shares became fully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Athelney Trust has a successful progressive dividend growth record and the dividend has grown every year since 2004. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) Athelney Trust is one of only "22 investment companies that have increased their dividend every year between 10 and 20 years - the next generation of dividend heroes" (as at 20/03/2018). See link

www.theaic.co.uk/aic/news/press-releases/next-generation-of-dividend-heroes

Website

www.athelneytrust.co.uk

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December 04, 2019 06:05 ET (11:05 GMT)

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