The stated mandate of the trust being to invest in a diversified range of global healthcare related dividend paying stocks that would hopefully increase on a total return basis over time. Which has meant in practice the avoidance of many of the non-dividend paying healthcare stocks operating in the speculative R&D areas of medicine.
As of release of the half-yearly report on 05 May for the 6-month period ending 31 March 2017 the net assets of the trust stood at £255.7m with no debt on the balance sheet (of which there has never been any). And, a total return to shareholders since inception of 154.2%.
As one can gather, I’m a shareholder and have been since 2011. During this time the value of my initial share price purchase has doubled with my adding to my holding in incremental stages over the course of time. However, I now in the process of cashing in my chips as a result of the proposed and upcoming reorganisation on the cards for PCGH. The Polar Capital management having talked the Board of Directors into moving the goal posts of the trust big time - for example:
Being ditched is the requirement for dividend paying stocks in favour of an unconstrained approach to global healthcare stocks. Which as a result means the current level of regular payouts to shareholders will overtime be considerably reduced.
The taking on of debt in the form of Zero Dividend Preference shares at a ratio of 1:8 ordinary shares. The Zero’s to roll-up at 3% per annum over the course of 7.5 years. Which is a cute way of borrowing money and not being required to repay the principal plus interest for 7-and-a-half years.
The introduction of a management performance fee
The initial public offering (IPO) of the to be renamed Polar Capita Global Healthcare Trust is now live and is due to close at 1PM on 31 May 2017. By which time the necessary forms will have been submitted on my behalf accepting the offer to tender all my existing shares for purchase.
Re: The spate of investment trust IPOs
Of late I’ve noticed a surge in the number of investment trust IPOs being pushed in the direction of retail investors. As someone with a now more than 35-year interest in investment trusts, this for me is a red flag sign. Marketing departments of fund management houses are well-versed when it comes to identifying times of increasing retail investors’ appetites for riskier assets in apparently buoyant markets. Previously shelved plans can be quickly dusted off and readied for implementation in order to strike while the iron is hot. What the general retail investor fails to grasp is that most of the gains (such as they are) have already been booked and, all that’s left on the table is crumbs. Being that, more times than not, following periodic bouts of investor enthusiasm for new and seemingly tempting offers of participation comes the inevitable disappointment as the act of reversion-to-the-mean takes its effect on previously inflated asset prices.
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PS: I would have liked to have included a couple of URL links to supporting sources in the above post. However, when submitting my post the site software informed me that I had not been approved to do so, I therefore had to remove them in order to post. Is this an issue with Lemon Fool for users?
