Athelney Trust PLC
Legal Entity Identifier:
213800ON67TJC7F4DL05
The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was
188.1p at 30 June 2024.
Fund Manager's
comment for June 2024
Final revisions to the US first quarter
annualised GDP figures were in line with expectations, rising 0.1%
to 1.4%. According to the Federal Reserve, core inflation reduced
in May to its lowest level in more than three years against a
backdrop of measured consumer spending and strong personal income.
This once again fuelled speculation that the Federal Reserve will
begin cutting rates at the September FOMC meeting.
The Bank of England (BoE) met in June and
maintained the policy rate at 5.25%, albeit leaning towards a
reduction in rates as the May headline CPI inflation rate eased to
2.0% year-on-year. The UK Manufacturing PMI was revised lower to
50.9 in June 2024 from a preliminary estimate of 51.4. However, the
data continued to point to an upturn in the manufacturing sector as
output and new orders both expanded for the second successive
month, with rates of expansion remaining close to the highs reached
in May. The Eurozone manufacturing PMI showed signs of weakness at
the end of the second quarter as the contraction in output
accelerated. New orders, purchasing activity and employment also
decreased at faster rates, but the 12-month outlook for output
remained positive.
Stock markets globally continued to reach new
highs. While the MSCI World Index only increased by 1.9%, the
S&P 500 rose by 3.5% and the NASDAQ index reported a 6.0% gain,
adding to the previous month's 6.9% rise. One should be mindful
that a handful of Big Tech stocks have fuelled the S&P 500's
rally so far this year, with shares of Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) surging
around 150% in 2024 alone. This was highlighted in a recent
Forbes article on the S&P performance over the past two
years which showed that while the S&P 500 Growth Index returned
6.9%, the average stock had a negative return of 1.6%. Analysing
the index performance in terms of market capitalisation by decile,
the group comprising the largest 10%, with an average market
capitalisation of more than $1 trillion, drove all the returns of
the Index.
UK markets by comparison did not fare as well,
with the FTSE 100 Index decreasing by 1.3% and the FTSE 250 falling
by 2.1% as investors waited on the sidelines ahead of the upcoming
general elections. Smaller companies did not fare any better, with
the Small Cap Index down by 0.8% and the AIM All-Share index
decreasing by 5.1%. The Athelney portfolio declined by 3.6% driven
by the most part by a substantial decline in YouGov after the
company announced a poor result in its data products division,
despite increased demand for its customised research. The net
result for June was that the portfolio declined by 2.8% and after
accounting for expenses, there was a decrease in the Athelney NAV
of 3.6% for the month.
In June we introduced Raspberry Pi Holdings to
the portfolio, reducing our cash on hand to 1.9%. Raspberry
Pi is a high-growth, high-margin, founder-led tech company
dedicated to revolutionising the accessibility and affordability of
computing and digital education in a traditional computing market
characterised by high barriers to entry, expensive hardware and
software costs. Raspberry Pi disrupts this paradigm by offering
compact, versatile, and powerful computing devices at a fraction of
the cost and ads to our expanding suite of quality growth
companies.
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
"About" then select "Latest Monthly Fact Sheet".
Background
Information
Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl AM
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 (license no.421704).
www.ecpohl.com
www.ecpam.com
Manny Pohl and the ECP group has AUD2.7bn (£1.5
billion) under its management including four listed investment
companies, three listed in Australia and one in the UK:
· Flagship
Investments (ASX code:FSI)
AUD95m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au
·
Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST)
AUD37m www.barrackst.com
·
Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL)
AUD33m www.globalmastersfund.com.au
·
Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY)
GBP6m 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 a "Dividend Hero" being one of
only a few investment companies that have increased their dividend
every year for 20 years or more. See link
https://www.theaic.co.uk/income-finder/dividend-heroes
Website
www.athelneytrust.co.uk
