MIGO Opportunities Trust, which is currently headed up by Premier Miton Investors’ (PMI) Nick Greenwood, will migrate to Asset Value Investors (AVI) in Q4now that his former co-manager Charlotte Cuthbertson has moved to the firm.
AVI is expected to announce a second senior appointment to co-manage the trust “in the coming months”, with Greenwood running the portfolio until the transition is completed in Q4 2023. Greenwood handed his notice in at Premier Miton Investments in March this year.
Cuthbertson (pictured) had managed the IT Flexible mandate alongside Greenwood since 2018, but moved to AVI earlier this month after eight years at PMI. Greenwood had been running the portfolio for 14 years before Cuthbertson joined him at the helm, having joined then-Premier Asset Management in 2002.
The £79.4m trust, which aims to outperform the three-month SONIA plus 2% through holding other investment trusts, will be managed by AVI from Q4 this year, and the firm is expected to make a second senior appointment to co-manage the trust “in the coming months”. It will be managed with the same benchmark, process and philosophy that it has always had, according to the firm.
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AVI, which was founded in 1985, also manages the £1.2bn AVI Global Trust and the £180m AVI Japan Opportunities Trust.
Joe Bauernfreund, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of AVI, said the firm shares a “common philosophy and investment style which focuses on seeking out good quality, neglected securities trading at a discount to their Net Asset Value”.
“MIGO trades in the Flexible Investment sector whereas AVI Global Trust (AGT) trades in the Global sector and AVI Opportunity Trust (AJOT) trades in the Small Cap Japan sector,” he said.
“All three trusts have a similar approach but are distinct in their portfolios. The company is an excellent complement to our existing range of investment trusts.”
MIGO has comfortably beaten its benchmark over three and 10 years with respective gains of 36.9% and 115.1%, according to data from FE Fundinfo. It underperformed the Sonia +3% by 1.3 percentage points over five years, with a total return of 13.7%. The trust is currently trading on a 4.9% discount to net asset value, according to data from the AIC.
Richard Davidson, chair of MIGO Opportunities Trust, said: “Following a diligent process, the board is pleased to announce the appointment of Asset Value Investors as the new investment manager of MIGO Opportunities Trust.
“Our objective throughout the recent search process was to find a team with the resources and expertise to continue to achieve the trust’s objectives and strong, long-term performance.
“We believe that this is an excellent outcome for the company and our shareholders, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship with AVI.”
Charlotte Cuthbertson said she is “delighted to be joining the team at AVI”, and that her process of finding unloved companies “blends well with the wider team’s investment process”.
“AVI is a great home for MIGO,” she added.
‘No prizes’ for guessing second appointment
Numis, which described AVI as a “well-respected investor in the investment companies sector”, said the firm has “deep resources, knowledge and experience”.
“Therefore we believe the appointment to be a strong one. Nick Greenwood, who has managed MIGO since launch in April 2004, resigned from Premier Miton in March, and there will be no prizes for guessing who the senior level appointment at AVI is likely to be.
“MIGO Opportunities has a unique mandate within the investment companies (ICs) sector, seeking to invest in funds that have fallen out of favour and trade on wide discounts, with the potential to narrow through a change in sentiment and/or corporate action.
“The mandate is wellsuited to the closed-end structure given that holdings are often relatively illiquid and small. MIGO has recently moved to a 5% discount and we expect clarity around its future management will be helpful for sentiment.”
