Monthly Archives: May 2022

The abrdn Asian Income Fund Limited

The abrdn Asian Income Fund is targeting the income and growth potential of Asia’s most compelling and sustainable companies

https://www.asian-income.co.uk/

Ten largest holdings (%)
TSMC Taiwan 7.3% of the fund
Samsung Electronics Korea 6.5% of the fund
BHP Australia 4.0% of the fund
DBS Group Singapore 3.8% of the fund
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Singapore 3.2% of the fund
Venture Corporation Singapore 3.0% of the fund
Infosys India 2.6% of the fund
United Overseas Bank Singapore 2.6% of the fund
Rio Tinto Australia 2.4% of the fund
Tisco Financial Thailand 2.2% of the fund

Total 37.6 % of the fund

The total number of investments 60

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/AAIF/abrdn-asian-income-fund-limited/company-page

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund May 2022 Dividend.

Today Gresham House Energy Storage Fund pays out its May 2022 dividend.

1.75p a share.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/GRID/total-voting-rights/15080709

Now he total number of voting rights of the Company is 437,842,078, thus:-

437,842,078 x £0.0175 = 7,662,236.365

That is £7,662,236.365 = £7.662 Millon paid to shareholder

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/GRID/gresham-house-energy-storage-fund-plc/company-page

HSBC Asset Management: Common Sense Prevailed.

HSBC suspends banker over ‘nut job’ climate comments, say reports – BBC News

A good news story after some dreadful comments from Stuart Kirk of HSBC Asset Management.

Last week, Stuart Kirk, a leader in the bank’s responsible investing team, said: “There’s always some nut job telling me about the end of the world.”

In the address he made light of the risks of major floods and said that he had to spend his time “looking at something that’s going to happen in 20 or 30 years”.

During the 15-minute address at the FT Moral Money Summit, Mr Kirk said “Climate change is not a financial risk that we need to worry about.”

“Unsubstantiated, shrill, partisan, self-serving, apocalyptic warnings are ALWAYS wrong,” a slide shown as part of the presentation said.

Courtesy of The FT

Invesco Bond Income Plus Limited

The Invesco Bond Income Plus Limited is a London listed investment trust.

The objective of the Fund is to achieve long-term capital growth. The Fund invests primarily in shares of companies engaged in the discretionary consumer needs worldwide, including companies engaged in meeting the demands of consumers. The Fund is actively managed and is not constrained by its benchmark, MSCI World Consumer Discretionary Index (Net Total Return), which is used for comparison purposes

£357.0m Total Assets

6.5% Dividend Yield

Invesco Bond Income Plus Limited was previously City Merchants High Yield Trust Limited

https://www.invesco.com/uk/en/investment-trusts/invesco-bond-income-plus-limited.html

Top 10 issuers % portfolio

Codere New Topco 13.625% PIK 30 Nov 2027, 12.75% PIK 30 Nov 2027,
11% PIK 30 Sep 2026, 7.5% PIK 30 Nov 2027 (SUB),
Common Stock
2.5% portfolio

Lloyds Banking Group 7.625% FRN Perpetual, 7.5% FRN Perpetual, 7.875%
FRN Perpetual, 6.375% FRN Perpetual, 3.5% FRN 01
Apr 2026 (SNR)
2.4% portfolio

Teva Pharmaceutical Finance 6% 31 Jan 2025 (SNR), 4.375% 09 May 2030 (SNR),
7.125% 31 Jan 2025 (SNR), 6.75% 01 Mar 2028
(SNR), 5.125% 09 May 2029 (SNR)
2.2% portfolio

Barclays 2.75% FRN Perpetual, 4.375% FRN Perpetual, 6.375%
FRN Perpetual, 7.25% FRN Perpetual, 7.875% FRN
Perpetual, 8% FRN Perpetual
2.1% portfolio

Aviva 6.125% FRN 05 Jul 2043, 6.125% FRN Perpetual,
8.875% Preference
2.0% portfolio
C
o-Operative Bank 9.5% FRN 25 Apr 2029, 5.125% 17 May 2024 (SNR),
6% FRN 06 Apr 2027 (SNR), 7.5% FRN 08 Jul 2026
1.8% portfolio

Petra Diamonds 10.5% PIK 08 Mar 2026, Common Stock 1.8
Virgin Media O2 5% 15 Apr 2027 (SNR), 4.25% 15 Jan 2030 (SNR),
4% 31 Jan 2029 (SNR)
1.7% portfolio

Ziggo Bond Finance 6% 15 Jan 2027 (SNR), 4.875% 15 Jan 2030 (SNR),
3.375% 28 Feb 2030 (SNR)
1.6% portfolio

Vodafone Group 4.875% 03 Oct 2078, 7% FRN 04 Apr 2079, 6.25%
03 Oct 2078
1.5% portfolio

Total 19.6 of the portfolio

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/BIPS/invesco-bond-income-plus-limited/company-page

Lloyds Banking Group May 2022 Dividend.

Today, the Lloyds Banking Group pays out its May 2022 dividend.

1.33p a share.

https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com

The total number of shares issued by Lloyds Banking Group plc with rights to vote which are exercisable in all circumstances at general meetings is 69,666,692,662 ordinary shares.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/LLOY/total-voting-rights/15432921

Thus:

69,666,692,662 x £0.0133 = £926,567,012.4046

That is £926 million paid to shareholders.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/LLOY/lloyds-banking-group-plc/analysis

Investment in the Dunning-Kruger Effect

An Overview of the Dunning-Kruger Effect (verywellmind.com)

“People who consider themselves “the clever ones” are not clever at all

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a type of cognitive bias in which people believe that they are smarter and more capable than they really are. Essentially, low ability people do not possess the skills needed to recognize their own incompetence. The combination of poor self-awareness and low cognitive ability leads them to overestimate their own capabilities.

The term lends a scientific name and explanation to a problem that many people immediately recognize—that fools are blind to their own foolishness. As Charles Darwin wrote in his book The Descent of Man, “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.”

An Overview of the Dunning-Kruger Effect


This phenomenon is something you have likely experienced in real life, perhaps around the dinner table at a holiday family gathering. Throughout the course of the meal, a member of your extended family begins spouting off on a topic at length, boldly proclaiming that he is correct and that everyone else’s opinion is stupid, uninformed, and just plain wrong. It may be plainly evident to everyone in the room that this person has no idea what they are talking about, yet they prattle on, blithely oblivious to their own ignorance.

The effect is named after researchers David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the two social psychologists who first described it. In their original study on this psychological phenomenon, they performed a series of four investigations.

NatWest May 2022 Dividend

On the 4th May 2022, NatWest Group, (formerly The Royal Bank of Scotland) paid out it May 2022 dividend.

https://www.natwestgroup.com/

It was £0.075p a share.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/NWG/total-voting-rights/15432867

42,250,741,324 are the total voting rights thus:-

42,250,741,324 x £0.075 = £3,168,805,599.30

That is £3,168 Million = £3.168 Billion paid to shareholders

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/NWG/natwest-group-plc/company-page

HM Government Borrowings: April 2022

Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]

https://dmo.gov.uk/dmo_static_reports/Gilt%20Operations.pdf

Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In April 2022, the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were only 3 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-

20-Apr-2022 1 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2039 £2,499.9980 Million
12-Apr-2022 1% Treasury Gilt 2032 £3,124.9980 Million
05-Apr-2022 0 3/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 £3,250.0000 Million

£2,499.9980 Million + £3,124.9980 Million + £3,250.0000 Million = £8,874.996 Million

£8,874.996 Million = £8.874996 Billion

On another way of looking at it, is in the 30 days in April 2022, HM Government borrowed:- £295.8332 Million each day for the 30 days.

We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature in 2039. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together……”

F&C Investment Trust, May 2022 Dividend

The Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust is the founding father if investments for the masses. Tomorrow it pays out its dividend to shareholders

https://www.bmogam.com/fandc-investment-trust/

3.8p a share.

F&C Investment Trust PLC holds stock in over 450 companies. These are the twenty companies that is holds the most stock in:


Microsoft 2.5% of the portfolio
Alphabet 2.2% of the portfolio
Apple 1.9% of the portfolio
Amazon 1.8% of the portfolio
UnitedHealth 1.4% of the portfolio
Anthem 0.9% of the portfolio
Meta 0.9% of the portfolio
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company 0.9% of the portfolio
Comcast 0.8% of the portfolio
Broadcom 0.8% of the portfolio
Tesla 0.8% of the portfolio
International Flavors & Fragrances 0.8% of the portfolio
Hess 0.7% of the portfolio
CVS Health 0.7% of the portfolio
Merck & Co 0.7% of the portfolio
Dollar General 0.7% of the portfolio
AstraZeneca 0.7% of the portfolio
JB Hunt 0.6% of the portfolio
Mastercard 0.6% of the portfolio
Wells Fargo 0.6% of the portfolio

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/FCIT/total-voting-rights/15433300

The total number of voting rights 522,500,492

Thus:-

522,500,492 x £0.038 = £19,855,018.696

That is £19million paid to shareholders.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/FCIT/f-c-investment-trust-plc/company-page

Invesco Asia Trust

The Invesco Asia Trust is a London listed investment trust.

https://www.invesco.com/uk/en/investment-trusts/invesco-asia-trust-plc.html

The Company’s objective is to provide long-term capital growth by investing in a
diversified portfolio of Asian and Australasian companies.

Top 10 holdings % portfolio
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Taiwan 7.3% portfolio
Samsung Electronics South Korea 6.3% portfolio
Tencent – R China 6.0% portfolio
Alibaba China 3.7% portfolio
ICICI Bank – ADR India 3.5% portfolio
Housing Development Finance Corporation India 3.5% portfolio
JD.com China 3.1% portfolio
AIA Hong Kong 3.0% portfolio
MingYang Smart Energy – A China 2.7% portfolio
NetEase China 2.5% portfolio

Total 41.6% portfolio

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/IAT/invesco-asia-trust-plc/company-page

M&G Positive Impact Fund

The M&G Positive Impact Fund is a relatively new fund from M&G Investments.

The fund has two aims: to provide combined capital growth and income, net of the Ongoing Charge Figure, that is higher than the MSCI ACWI Index over any five-year period; and to invest in companies having a positive social impact. The fund usually holds shares in fewer than 40 companies. The fund invests over the long term in companies that make a positive social and/or environmental impact alongside a financial return. Sustainability and impact considerations are fundamental in the stock selection process.

Largest holdings
ON Semiconductor 6.6(%) Fund
Novo Nordisk 5.6(%) Fund
Johnson Controls International 5.0(%) Fund
Unitedhealth Group 4.8(%) Fund
Thermo Fisher Scientific 4.7(%) Fund
Solaredge Technologies 4.7(%) Fund
Schneider Electric 4.4(%) Fund
HDFC Bank 4.1(%) Fund
Orsted 3.9(%) Fund
ALK Abello 3.7(%) Fund

Fund size (millions) £ 209.60

https://www.mymandg.co.uk/posi-hub