THE former SVM Global Trust, which was switched from Edinburgh's SVM boutique to London-based Henderson in April, had a clutch of supposedly "deep value" investments which were almost worthless, the new managers have said.
The £135 million trust created by SVM Asset Management founder Colin McLean in 1991, has been overhauled by Henderson Global Investors, which won the mandate after a beauty parade of managers, and is now pitching the trust as "investable" again.
The trust had lost 28% of net asset value in the previous five years, while its benchmark the FTSE world index had made a 50% gain.
The review of its management by the independent board was prompted by the surprise departure last September from SVM of veteran manager Donald Robertson, who had co-managed the fund with Mr McLean.
New managers Ian Barrass and Paul Craig have now detailed the trust's "significant value attrition since 2007", notably in emerging market property and environmental technology. Seven holdings across these sectors had been bought for a total £24.7m, but were now valued at £2.2m, with lack of liquidity a "key concern".
They include a Russian arbitrage fund (cost £4.8m valued at £1.1m), the Buena Vista Latin American Fund investing in Mexican property (cost £3.3m value nil) a stake in Battersea Power Station (cost £5.3m value nil), a structured debt holding in clean technology (cost £4.5m value nil) , Low Carbon Accelerator Ltd (cost £2.5m value £100,000) and Trading Emissions plc (cost £1.1m value £300,000). Other liabilities include property funds invested in Croatia (a writedown of £2.5m) and Cuba. The Ludgate Environmental Fund has also been marked down by a third to £1.2m. One bright spot is the Zouk Solar Opportunities Fund, where the managers expect a value increase.
Mr Barrass has said former manager SVM's description of the portfolio as "deep value" had been ditched, as it could be seen as "a euphemism for things you are having to hold".
He said the trust had suffered from having almost 15% of its assets in Russia, and over 11% in the volatile mining sector, which had further damaged performance in the past six months. The trust did make a 4.5% total return in the period, but the benchmark index was ahead by over 17%. The share price total return shows a loss of 13.1% over one year (index up by 17.5%) and a loss of 40.5% over five years (index up 50.3%).
But Mr Barrass has said changes to the portfolio "won't be rushed and will be made in a way that we think manages capital best". The trust's investment mandate would be essentially unchanged, but with "more disciplined execution".
Of the trust's 59 holdings, the listed investments are said to be "variable" in quality and performance, while the unlisted are said to be good, with the exception of the emerging market property.
Henderson has stressed that it won the mandate against fierce competition and after an "exhaustive process" by the board, and highlighted that its internal resources include 285 specialist fund managers across six sectors.
Mr McLean, who was travelling yesterday and not available, said earlier this year: "Over the 22 years of the trust's existence, it has outperformed markets, but the board has made its own decision." He said SVM had "some pretty good track records in some other funds".
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