Schroders has continued making its mark on Neil Woodford’s former Patient Capital Trust, unveiling its third private equity investment since taking over from the disgraced stockpicker almost two years ago.
The trust, now known as Schroder UK Public Private (SUPP), invested $7m (£5m) in market research platform Attest Technologies as part of a $64m series B funding round.
The London-based start-up, which helps businesses create and distribute surveys to target customers, is the first business services sector investment to enter the portfolio as managers Tim Creed (pictured) and Roger Doig rebalance the portfolio away from Woodford’s legacy holdings.
Creed and Doig, who recently took over for Ben Wicks, have initiated two other new holdings this year in private cybersecurity company Tessian and financial app Revolut.
SUPP said its investment will help accelerate Attest’s expansion in Europe and North America. The company achieved record revenue growth during the pandemic and has been rapidly expanding its client base, which includes heavy hitters such as Microsoft, Santander, Boots, Wise and Klarna.
“In the current business climate, the importance of operating in a customer-centric manner and continually monitoring consumer behaviour has never been greater and Attest is revolutionising access to high quality insights for brands around the world,” Creed and Doig said in a RNS filing.
“The company’s ambition to make market research available to everyone and democratise data represents a sizeable market opportunity which is multiples of the existing traditional market research sector. We look forward to supporting the company on its journey over the coming years”.
Moving forward Creed and Doig revealed they would be disclosing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) associated with new investments where appropriate.
Attest is in line with SDG8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth” and Target 8.2 to “achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation”.
SUPP reported a 16% uplift in NAV to to 40.7p per share in the six months to 31 June 2021, following several positive portfolio developments, including the re-rating of Oxford Nanopore ahead of its IPO.
However, it still trades at a massive 27% discount, according to Association of Investment Companies data.
See also: Schroders trust offloads 10% of its Oxford Nanopore holding at biotech firm’s IPO
