Trust weaklings ask for Troy takeover

The Albany and Grampian investment trusts have asked Francis Brooke of Troy Income & Growth to take them over.

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by Gavin Lumsden on Jun 12, 2012 at 15:31

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Francis Brooke (pictured), the Citywire A-rated manager of Trojan Income , a pick of our Citywire Selection team, has been invited to take over two underperforming investment trusts.

The boards of the £29 million Albany and the £10 million Grampian investment trusts have both invited Troy Income & Growth (TIGT), an investment trust also run by Brooke, to become the successor vehicle into which their shareholders can roll into as they call it a day.

Albany is currently managed by Rathbones with a similar approach to TIGT, although its three-year share price growth of 34% is poor compared to the 91.4% return from Brooke's trust.

Albany shareholders should enjoy a boost if the deal goes ahead as the 19% discount on their shares is eliminated.

Grampian, which recently converted to investment trust status, is already run by Brooke.

The takeovers will expand TIGT's size to around £120 million and should improve liquidity in its shares and help keep down costs, its board said.

Analysts at Numis welcomed the moves and called for more corporate action to weed out underperforming investment trusts. 'There are still numerous funds with a market cap of under £50 million, and we believe that boards of these funds should consider returning capital, rolling into another vehicle or changing manager/mandate if there is no viable strategy to attract demand.'

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7 comments so far. Why not have your say?

Have been thinking of investing in TIGT - does this news mean a discount soon?

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According to Citywire, Troy has lost 33% over 5 years, Albany lost 30% - both as bad as each other & yet the managers still get paid!

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Thank You, Anthony.

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NO - 5 year performance figure not relevant as this period would include the former and very much underperforming Glasgow Investment Trust .

Troy took over as manager mid way through 2009, renaming the Trust .

Approx 3 year performance figure for Troy Income & Growth under Francis Brooke is more like +90%....

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And I should add that Francis Brooke is one of very few IT managers who can actually run a very effective discount control mechanism...

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Re DOD's comment on 5 year comparison - clearly a pitfall for the unitiated!

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bwanakuba

Jun 13, 2012 at 10:11

This man ,Mr.Francis Brookes, has the much needed expertise especially in these volatile markets. He has done a good job and no doubt will continue to do so; i personally vouch for him and stand by him.Forget the figures and percentages which can be looked from several angles to please or displease one's ego.

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