Investment trust experts anticipate corporate actions will be a key priority for boards this year, after a number of popular vehicles implemented changes to their structure and approach in 2016, as activist investors intensified their attacks on the sector.
Around £4bn of capital was returned to investors in 2016, significantly higher than £2.7bn the previous year, as a result of corporate activity including share buybacks (£1.9bn), tenders and redemptions (£1.6bn) and liquidations or distributions by funds with a realisation strategy (£462m), according to Numis Securities. Ewan Lovett-Turner, director of investment companies research at Numis, said the increase in corporate activity was a result of high-profile names including Electra Private Equity and Alliance Trust coming under fire from activist investors, leading other boards to reass...
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