Kepler Trust Intelligence

In the New Testament, the Parable of the Hidden Treasure describes a traveller who skips past the bustling marketplaces of the city, heading for a non-descript, muddy field in search of hidden treasure. When he found the treasure, “he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field”.

Schroder Asian Total Return (ATR) has released its half-year report for the period ending 30/06/2026. Over the period, the company saw a NAV total return of 34.4%, whilst share price total returns were 27.8%. Whilst the company has no benchmark, the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index is used as a reference and returned 25.6% in the same period. During the period, the company announced a proposed combination with Pacific Assets (PAC).

We Brits have long treated bargain-hunting as a national sport. Aldi’s infamous aisle of shame may have confounded the nation when it first arrived, but it’s helped propel the budget retailer into the UK’s fourth largest food retailer. A quarter of its stores are reportedly within a mile of Waitrose, creating the ultimate symbiotic shopping trip of pairing a £250 hot-tub with a £280 bottle of Cristal.

The global growth engine has shifted. Emerging and developing economies now account for over 85% of the world’s population and more than 40% of GDP. With GDP growth running at more than twice the pace of advanced economies over the next five years, their global influence is likely to grow further. Yet this growing economic weight is not reflected in global equity markets, with emerging markets representing just over 20% of global market capitalisation.

Join Jo Groves, Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff and David Brenchley from Kepler Trust Intelligence for a roundup of all the news that matters to investment trust investors in August, brought to you in association with Schroders. In the news, Ryan highlights the destination of former River UK Micro Cap (RMMC) manager George Ensor, as well as picking over the positive, and negative, news from International Public Partnerships (INPP).

In this episode of Trusts in Focus, we discuss why we think there are exciting developments coming down the track for Greencoat UK Wind (UKW). We round up recent results, outline why we think the inflation-linked dividend remains attractive and how the trust is preparing to make a return to investing.

Everyone knows SpaceX achieved the biggest IPO of 2026, $75bn raised, a $1.77trn valuation, the largest listing in history. What's less well known is that for the first three months of the year, before SpaceX had even confirmed a listing date, the title belonged to someone else entirely: a Czech defence and industrial group most investors had never heard of. That's the real story of 2026's IPO market.

The attractions of AGT’s discount and diversification have never been stronger. Overview AVI Global (AGT) brings active management to bear on corners of the market where it has the most potential to add alpha. Manager Joe Bauernfreund and his team look for value opportunities in listed companies with complicated structures which often have limited analyst coverage. Joe looks for situations where he can see a catalyst for this value to be realised, which frequently involves engaging with management.

In this episode of Trust Issues, we speak to Paul Daggett, co-manager of Neuberger Private Equity Partners (NBPE), about the investment case for private equity, why he's seeing bright spots within NBPE's portfolio and how management assesses AI risk when investing.

August served up a fine selection of highs - and yes, I’m talking about equities, not the annual scourge of parents aka the Reading festival. The S&P 500 edged towards 7,800, buoyed by second quarter earnings that soothed nerves over AI spend and a mercifully uneventful inflation print. However, investors could be forgiven for reaching for their oxygen masks after Moderna rocketed 180% on clinical trial results for its personalised mRNA melanoma vaccine.