Trevor was in the offing until his retirement in March and now Alistair has taken his place. They are brokers at Investec and lurk discretely in the background, like Jeeves.
It works perfectly. I don’t bother him, he doesn’t bother me but I know that he is on hand if required. When I bought British Gas many years ago I asked Trevor if there was any reason not to. He said Cazenove had put out a Sell recommendation. Fortunately it didn’t deter me. More recently, when I bought shares in Shell (Yield to Temptation), a friend told me that Cazenove had advised her mother to sell her Shell shares. Perhaps I’m being unfair but that blue-blooded firm seems not to have a clue how to value a business. Maybe it’s the blue-blood that is responsible for their idiocy?
I am not optimistic about the impact of Brexit on the UK economy and, so far as I can, have invested outside the UK, especially in emerging markets, and in bonds. However, the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 have been resilient; the former boosted by dollar earnings, the latter by an export boom on the back of a weak pound.
Monks investment trust is now at a premium to NAV, as is Murray International. Caledonia’s discount has narrowed to about 12% but I doubt that will shrink much more. These family owned trusts are impregnable to takeover bids. RIT and McInroy & Wood are my other stalwarts alongside, relative, newcomers Worldwide Healthcare, Pacific Assets and North Atlantic Smaller Companies. I am going to increase my exposure to Japan when an opportunity presents itself.