Report
Keith Hiscock

The Hardman & Co Monthly: November 2022

Feature article: A different kind of beat: Boyzone, 1996
Quoted company engagement with retail investors – a new world

This month's feature article has been written in collaboration with The Quoted Companies Alliance.

Introduction:
Retail investors used to be the second-class citizens of the stock market. The bulk of their money was held in funds or pension schemes where a professional took all the decisions and where they owned only a tiny part of the equity market directly. They also tended to ask annoying questions at AGMs! Many managements were encouraged to all but ignore them by advisors.
Today, we live in a world where that previously held view looks increasingly outdated. There are three primary reasons for this:

► Private investors have taken more control over their own money; for example, by replacing pension investments run by a manager with Self Invested Pension Plans.

► Compared with fund managers, these investors care much less about liquidity in shares, and their involvement can be an important factor in improving liquidity. In turn, this enables fund managers to invest, since they have been subject to greater liquidity scrutiny since the Woodford meltdown.

► There is a growing sense that these investors have been treated unfairly and that engaging with all shareholders fairly is just good governance, and should be part of the corporate ESG policy.

Thus, many companies now take the view that engaging with these investors is beneficial.

To read more, download the full article and November Hardman & Co Monthly.
Underlyings
Advanced Oncotherapy

Advanced Oncotherapy is focused on providing radiotherapy systems for cancer treatment through the use of a proton therapy technology. Co. operates in two business segments: proton therapy and healthcare related properties. The healthcare related property U.K. segment relates to Co.'s property in Folkestone, which is being marketed for sale.

Appreciate Group

Park Group is a provider of prepaid gift cards, multi-retailer gift vouchers and digital rewards services to corporate and consumer markets. Co.'s brands include: Love2shop, a multi-retailer gift voucher and prepaid gift card brand; Park Christmas Savings, which helps families prepare and budget for Christmas in a controlled and careful manner; flexecash®, which issues e-money; Love2shop Business Services, which provides solutions from Co.'s own multi-retailer vouchers and prepaid cards to single store vouchers and cards, gift experiences, holidays and travel; and Evolve, which is a digital rewards platform that provides commercial organizations with a means to reward individuals.

Arbuthnot Banking Group

Arbuthnot Banking Group is primarily involved in banking and financial services. Co. is organized into three main operating segments: Retail banking (associate), which incorporates household cash management, personal lending and banking and insurance services; U.K. Private banking, which incorporates private banking, commercial banking and wealth management; and Group Centre, which is comprised in Co.'s Group Centre management. As of Dec 31 2016, Co.'s total assets were £1.27 billion.

Fidelity Asian Values PLC

Fidelity Asian Values is an investment company. Co. invests in a diversified portfolio of securities and instruments issued by or related to companies listed on the stock markets in the Asian Region excluding Japan. Co. may invest directly in the shares of companies or indirectly through equity related instruments and in debt instruments. Co. may also invest in quoted securities and in other investment funds. Co. invests across a range of sectors, including consumer discretionary, financials, information technology, consumer staples, industrials, health care, utilities, energy, materials, and telecommunication services. Co.'s investment is managed by FIL Investments International.

Fidelity China Special Situations PLC

Fidelity China Special Situations is an investment trust. Co.'s investment objective is to attain long-term capital growth from a managed portfolio made up primarily of securities issued by companies listed in China or Hong Kong and Chinese companies listed elsewhere. Co. may also invest in listed companies with interests in China and Hong Kong.

Fidelity European Values PLC

Fidelity European Values operates as an investment company with a managed portfolio of investments, consisting primarily of continental European securities. Co.'s Portfolio Manager focuses on attaining a total return on Co.'s total assets over the longer term in excess of the Benchmark Index, the FTSE World Europe (ex UK) Index. Co. may utilize derivative instruments, including index-linked notes, futures, contracts for difference, covered call options, put options and other equity-related derivative instruments as a tool to meet its investment objective.

Fidelity Japan Trust

Fidelity Japan Trust is an investment trust company. Co.'s investment objective is to attain long term capital growth from a managed portfolio of securities primarily of small and medium sized Japanese companies listed or traded on Japanese stockmarkets.

Fidelity Special Values PLC

Fidelity Special Values PLC is a United Kingdom-based investment trust. The investment objective of the Company is to achieve long term capital growth predominantly through investment in the United Kingdom listed companies. The Company is engaged in the investments in larger, medium and smaller-sized companies. Its investments have the characteristics, including limited downside risk and unrecognized potential for positive change. The Company focuses on investing up to 20% of the portfolio in listed companies on overseas exchanges. The Company may invest directly in the shares of companies or indirectly through equity-related instruments (such as derivative contracts, warrants or convertible bonds) and in debt instruments. The Company may also invest in unquoted securities. It invests in sectors, including financial services, media, support services, and software and computer services. FIL Investment Services (UK) Limited is the Company's alternative investment fund manager.

ICG Enterprise Trust

ICG Enterprise Trust is an investment trust. Co. is a private equity investment company focused on buyouts in developed markets. Co. invests in private equity funds and also directly in private companies. As of Jan 31 2017, Co.'s total investment portfolio amounted to £594.3 million.

International Biotechnology Trust PLC

International Biotechnology Trust is an independent investment trust company. Co. invests primarily in biotechnology and other life science companies. The portfolio is split between large, mid and small capitalisation companies, primarily quoted on stock exchanges in North America, though investments will also be made in Europe, Asia and Australia. Investments may also be made into unquoted companies and into funds not quoted on a stock exchange, including venture capital funds. Co. has delegated responsibility for day-to-day investment of its assets to the Alternative Investment Fund Manager, SV Health Managers LLP.

Oakley Capital Investments

Pantheon International

Pantheon International is an investment trust company. Co. invests in a diversified portfolio of private equity assets managed by third party managers across the world. Co. manages its portfolio by creating primary and secondary investments in private equity funds as well as co-investing directly in companies alongside private equity managers. Co. is engaged in the single segment of business, being an investment business. As of May 31 2017, the market value of Co.'s investment portfolio was £1,224,000,000.

Real Estate Credit Investments

Shield Therapeutics

Shield Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of late stage, hospital-focused pharmaceuticals which address areas of high unmet medical need. Co.'s key products are Feraccru®, commercially available for the treatment of Iron Deficiency Anaemia, and PT20, for the treatment of systemic phosphate accumulation (otherwise known as hyperphosphatemia). Co. has an additional pipeline of three prescription pharmaceutical assets (PT20, PT30 and PT40) with commercial synergies.

Tissue Regenix Group

Tissue Regenix Group is a medical technology company. Co. is engaged in the development of regenerative products to create replacement native tissue using biological (human and animal) materials. With its platform technology dCELL®, Co. is focusing on the treatment of patients with wound care, orthopaedic and cardiac applications. The dCELL® technology allows Co. to process both human and animal tissues, removing DNA and cellular material but leaving intact an acellular matrix within which the patient's own cells can repopulate and regenerate, creating like for like tissue.

Volta Finance (GBP)

Volta Finance is a closed-ended investment company with the objective of investing, among other asset types, in the following main asset classes: Collateralized Loan Obligation, Synthetic Corporate Credit, Cash Corporate Credit and ABS. Co. has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris S.A., as its Alternative Investment Fund Manager to manage the investments of Co.

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Analysts
Keith Hiscock

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