Gresham House

[Snowbadger]

I recently sold off the two Baronsmeades to fund new purchases as they were no longer performing. Top of my list were the Mobeus VCTs. Imagine my surprise to receive the prospectus from Wealth Club to find that Gresham House who manage Baronsmeade have taken over Mobeus in Sept 21. Should I reconsider an investment?



Cheers,

SB

[scotia]

I recently sold off the two Baronsmeades to fund new purchases as they were no longer performing. Top of my list were the Mobeus VCTs. Imagine my surprise to receive the prospectus from Wealth Club to find that Gresham House who manage Baronsmeade have taken over Mobeus in Sept 21. Should I reconsider an investment?



Cheers,

SB

I sympathise - Its a topsy turvy world in VCTs. Regulations change, managers change, and top performers change. I remember the rush to buy new issues of Baronsmead, and now, like yourself, I'll be selling them off.

Looking at my Mobeus VCTs (MIG4 and IGV), they certainly have performed well over 5 years, and so has my British Smaller Cos VCT - but it's a guessing game as to whether or not this will continue.

[Karellan]

Indeed I hold a lot of Baronsmead and Mobeus and they have done well over the years. However I am not a buyer now as Gresham now manages an overly large bit of my VCT holdings.

[sinterklaas]

Baronsmead has a lot of AIM, Mobeus doesn’t. Mobeus VCTs still have Trevor Hope and Clive Austin at the helm

[james188]

Baronsmead has a lot of AIM, Mobeus doesn’t. Mobeus VCTs still have Trevor Hope and Clive Austin at the helm

I believe that the two teams are now fully integrated. Hopefully that will improve the performance of the two Baronsmead VCTs. Over time, I suspect that the AIM component of the Baronsmead VCTs will probably reduce, given that future investments by all these VCTs will be offered on a preset sharing basis and the AIM holdings will eventually be sold. I hold both sets of these VCTs.

[Kidman]

Could the plan be to merge the Baronsmead and Mobeus VCTs?

As they have differing portfolios there should be no problem merging one or possibly two Mobeus VCTs into one of the Baronsmead VCTs and then at the same time take the opportunity to rename them Gresham House VCT 1, 2, etc.

[Mainwaring]

I hope not. I can understand with a single team managing Baronsmead and Mobeus there will be more joint investments but a change of name usually follows pi$$ poor performance

[james188]

I hope not. I can understand with a single team managing Baronsmead and Mobeus there will be more joint investments but a change of name usually follows pi$$ poor performance

I hope not too (at least for the foreseeable future), but I think that a merger is fairly likely.

As things stand, the portfolio mixes are quite different and I like that. The Baronsmead Microcap funds have generally performed pretty well. As the differences reduce (my working assumption), the cost reduction arguments will probably prevail. Industry consolidation and scaling up is inevitable, but new entrants are unlikely under the current rules and the reduction in choice that looms is a concern.

[Snowbadger]

Hi James,
I agree that the two funds mixes are quite different, Mobeus is the most successful VCT generalist over five and 10yrs whereas the two Baronsmeades languish in 30th and 31st position and have lost 16% and 15% in the last year alone. I don't think their Micro cap fund will come to the rescue as its 5yr performance is a meagre 15%.
As I am working on 5yr horizons let's hope the Mobeus momentum can carry them through. However I have reduced my initial investment plans by half and have just applied for the Albion offer. As they say " diversification is the only free lunch ".

Thanks everyone for your input,


SB

[UncleEbenezer]

Industry consolidation and scaling up is inevitable, but new entrants are unlikely under the current rules and the reduction in choice that looms is a concern.

I seem to recollect that being the received wisdom back in my early days of VCT investing. Would Octopus Titan be the last new entrant, and would it flourish or might it struggle?

There've been one or two more since then. Pembroke, for instance, has surprised upwards.

[sinterklaas]

Could the plan be to merge the Baronsmead and Mobeus VCTs?

As they have differing portfolios there should be no problem merging one or possibly two Mobeus VCTs into one of the Baronsmead VCTs and then at the same time take the opportunity to rename them Gresham House VCT 1, 2, etc.

They will have to rename them anyway at some point, Mobeus Equity Partners still exists and if I recall correctly they only granted use of the name for a finite period

As to whether they'd merge, would shareholders actually want that?

[Karellan]

Somebody has bought Gresham :-

https://citywire.com/investment-trust-i ... efea=82681

[scotia]

Somebody has bought Gresham :-

https://citywire.com/investment-trust-i ... efea=82681

More on the offer (without having to login)
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/market-news/recommended-final-cash-offer-for-gresham-house-plc/16042678

[Kidman]

So Gresham House returns to being an unlisted company, this time owned by a private equity firm.
Hence there should be no changes to personnel or products in the near term but I note the following from the announcement:-

"Searchlight's intention to support Gresham House by leveraging its industry experience to accelerate Gresham House's strategy. This includes the provision of capital and support to identify and execute successful acquisitions in the UK and internationally, which the Gresham House Board believes can be effectively delivered through access to flexible and long-term capital under private ownership."

Maybe more VCT management company acquisitions are in their sights?

[Mike4]

Being totally wet behind the ears regarding share ownership, does this mean I get to lose my handful of Gresham House shares held in my ISA?

How will that work? Do I have to do something?

Thanks...

[UncleEbenezer]

Being totally wet behind the ears regarding share ownership, does this mean I get to lose my handful of Gresham House shares held in my ISA?

How will that work? Do I have to do something?

Thanks...

Sounds like you get a nice instant boost to your ISA when the deal goes through.

Pretty sure you don't have to do anything. If there are any choices for you, your ISA provider will tell you. Otherwise you just wait for the money to appear as cash in the ISA, and decide what to do with it!

[Mike4]

Being totally wet behind the ears regarding share ownership, does this mean I get to lose my handful of Gresham House shares held in my ISA?

How will that work? Do I have to do something?

Thanks...

Sounds like you get a nice instant boost to your ISA when the deal goes through.

Pretty sure you don't have to do anything. If there are any choices for you, your ISA provider will tell you. Otherwise you just wait for the money to appear as cash in the ISA, and decide what to do with it!

Ok thanks. But this is VERY annoying. I wanted to keep my GH shares as I thought they have a LONG and very bright future. That's why I bought them, but obviously Searchlight thought the same and snatched the rug from under me.

Such is life. I still think grid-scale energy storage as a sector is set for massive expansion. Who does the team suggest I look at to replace my GH shareholding?!

Thanks...

[BullDog]

Sounds like you get a nice instant boost to your ISA when the deal goes through.

Pretty sure you don't have to do anything. If there are any choices for you, your ISA provider will tell you. Otherwise you just wait for the money to appear as cash in the ISA, and decide what to do with it!

Ok thanks. But this is VERY annoying. I wanted to keep my GH shares as I thought they have a LONG and very bright future. That's why I bought them, but obviously Searchlight thought the same and snatched the rug from under me.

Such is life. I still think grid-scale energy storage as a sector is set for massive expansion. Who does the team suggest I look at to replace my GH shareholding?!

Thanks...

Aha. Do you hold GRID, Gresham House Energy Storage shares? If you do, that's GRID, then it's business as usual. The company being taken private is Gresham House the asset manager, not GRID. HTH.

As an aside, if you wish to double down on energy storage then take a look at Harmony Energy Income Trust, HEIT. Presently a bargain.

[Mike4]

Ok thanks. But this is VERY annoying. I wanted to keep my GH shares as I thought they have a LONG and very bright future. That's why I bought them, but obviously Searchlight thought the same and snatched the rug from under me.

Such is life. I still think grid-scale energy storage as a sector is set for massive expansion. Who does the team suggest I look at to replace my GH shareholding?!

Thanks...

Aha. Do you hold GRID, Gresham House Energy Storage shares? If you do, that's GRID, then it's business as usual. The company being taken private is Gresham House the asset manager, not GRID. HTH.

As an aside, if you wish to double down on energy storage then take a look at Harmony Energy Income Trust, HEIT. Presently a bargain.

Oh really?! You're dead right I hold GRID. It does help, thanks!

I'll have a look at Harmony then anyway. More thanks!

[Karellan]

So Gresham House returns to being an unlisted company, this time owned by a private equity firm.
Hence there should be no changes to personnel or products in the near term but I note the following from the announcement:-

"Searchlight's intention to support Gresham House by leveraging its industry experience to accelerate Gresham House's strategy. This includes the provision of capital and support to identify and execute successful acquisitions in the UK and internationally, which the Gresham House Board believes can be effectively delivered through access to flexible and long-term capital under private ownership."

Maybe more VCT management company acquisitions are in their sights?

Focussing on the problem I hope that the new owners are not going to leverage on my lifestyle. I would have thought that if they squeezed the pips out of the business the results may not be predictable , what would that do to the customers (Me & you) ?