Woodford Equity Income Fund gives solid performance
Neil Woodford, top performing fund manager, set up the Woodford Equity Income Fund in June last year after leaving Invesco Perpetual. Those that were unsure whether to stick with the funds he used to manage at Invesco, or switch to his new fund needn’t have worried; Woodford Equity Income has performed well since it’s launch, with share prices rising 12% over the last 6 months.
Unusually, Woodford published a full list of the holdings in the fund – saying he was completely committed to transparency with his investors.
He is a big investor in tobacco stocks, such as British American Tobacco (up from £35 to £37) and Imperial Tobacco (up from £26 to £28.40). He backed Astrazeneca in its battle to fend off a bid from Pfizer, which paid off; shares in AstraZeneca are the biggest holding in the Woodford Equity Income, and have risen from £43.27 to £47.05 over the past six months.
The fund also has a notable amount of smaller companies, including Allied Minds, an American investment company that is listed in London with a market value of £400m. Oxford Catalysts Group, which is listed on the junior Aim market with a value of about £265m, accounts for 0.55 percent of Woodford Equity Income.
Mr Woodford said: “I strongly believe that investing in early-stage businesses can add meaningfully to the long-term performance of the fund, albeit individual positions will be small in the context of the overall portfolio.”
Geographically, the companies are mainly European – UK, Ire, Switzerland and Norway make up the majority. The rest of the shares are US-based.
The fund’s investment objective is income 10% higher than the FTSE, and his solid performance is down to his approach to handling money. Woodford buys big stakes in certain sectors; for example, a large percentage of the fund is healthcare – 32.5% compared to 8% benchmark, whilst ignoring others – including a notable lack of oil and gas – 0 instead of benchmark 11%. Most funds use a make up similar to FTSE index tin order to spread risk better.
“Woodford shunned tech stocks and banks, shortly before the crisis. He has also been investing heavily in pharmaceuticals for a number of years, which has boosted returns.” said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at brokers Hargreaves Lansdown.
Crowdfunding added to the Oxford English Dictionary
Crowdfunding has officially entered the English language, after being added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its quarterly update.
The dictionary makes regular editions to its publications to reflect the evolving nature of the English language. Given the growth in technology and social media over the last few years, it is unsurprising to see that many of the new additions are related to these sectors. New words, senses, and phrases are added to OxfordDictionaries.com once editors have gathered enough independent evidence from a range of sources to be confident that they have widespread currency in English.
The Oxford dictionary defines crowdfunding as: “The practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people who each contribute a relatively small amount, typically via the Internet”
Alongside crowdfunding, vaping, e-cig and retweet are among the words that have been added to the Dictionary today.
Uber ban provokes riots in France
France’s interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve has ordered a ban on Uber’s French arm, UberPOP, after a day of protests by taxi drivers.
French taxi drivers argue that they are being unfairly undercut by Uber. Cab driver in France must pay thousands of pounds a year in licence fees, and say that they have lost between 30% and 40% of their income over two years because of the growth of UberPOP.
“Many taxis drivers are infuriated,” Abdelkader Morghad, a representative of the FTI taxi union, told Bloomberg today.
UberPOP has been illegal in France since January, however the law has proved difficult to enforce. Uber say they will keep running the service until a judgment is handed down from France’s highest court.
Uber spokesman Thomas Meister said the firm had contested the law under which UberPOP has been ruled illegal, and accused the interior minister of overriding the normal legal process.
Nike reports profit increase of 24%
Sports retailer Nike reported a 24% increase in profit, fuelled by sales of high end shoes and clothing.
The company said net income rose to by $267m, from $698m a year earlier to $865m at the end of May this year.
Their high tech running shoes, including the Lunar and Free models, led sales, as well as an increased popularity of basketball shoes in the US market. The company’s largest market, North America, saw sales rise by 13% in the quarter.
President and chief executive Mark Parker described the past year overall as “outstanding”.
The company’s shares were up 2.3% at $107.63 last night on the NYSE.
Zanaga Iron Ore Co Ltd posts audited results
Zanaga Iron Ore Co is one of the biggest fallers on the AIM this morning, dropping 23.64 percent after have publishing their audited results for the year ending 31st December 2014. They disclosed a cash balance of $12.5 million at the end of 2014 and and $10.4 million at the end of May 2015.
The company has just completed a feasibility study and received its mining license. However, Clifford Elphick, Non-Executive Chairman of Zanaga Iron Ore Company Limited, commented: “these positive developments have been discounted to some extent by a number of significant changes in the global iron ore industry. A major negative impact has been the substantial fall in iron ore prices due to the slow down in the Chinese economy reducing demand, as well as significant supply increases from the major diversified mining companies”, suggesting that the company many be in for a hard time.
9 reasons to invest in property in Whitechapel, east London
Famous for being in the brown section of the monopoly board, Whitechapel is not the dreary investment opportunity it once was. Here’s why:
1. Although Whitechapel Station is just inside Zone 2, much of Whitechapel is in Zone 1.
2. Whitechapel is well connected. From Whitechapel Station you are able catch the Hammersmith and City, District and Overground lines. A short walk up to Bethnal Green will get you on the Central Line.
3. A Crossrail Station is being built in Whitechapel, properties within a short walk of these stations are enjoying value increases that exceed the average. JLL has produced a tool that ranks Whitechapel as the area with the most potential for property price increases. You can use the tool here.
4. It has one of the largest supermarkets in central London. The Whitechapel Sainsbury’s is also set to be redeveloped, adding to the floor space in the already large store.
5. Sundays are host to Brick Lane’s market, where you can try a wide variety of global cuisines from the ranks of street food vendors.
6. At Whitechapel Street Market, just outside the station, you will find everything from fruit juice to frying pans and mattresses to marshmallows.
7. Tayyabs curry house on Fieldgate Street is arguably one of the best in London. Lahore just down the road is just as good.
8. The Royal London Hospital on Whitechapel Road has one of the best trauma centres in the country, just in case you run into trouble.
9. You are a short walk from many of east London’s popular attractions; Victoria Park, Columbia Road Flower Market, Broadway Market, London Fields, Tobacco Docks, Shoreditch High Street……
Chinese stocks suffer biggest drop in five months
China’s $8.8 trillion stock market has dropped to become the worse performer globally. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 7.4 percent to 4,192.87 at the close, bringing its drop from this year’s high to 19 percent.
This comes after Morgan Stanley joined the growing group of analysts not to buy shares listed on Chinese stock exchange. “This is probably not a dip to buy,” wrote Jonathan Garner, the head of Asia and emerging-market strategy at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong. “In fact, we think the balance of probabilities is that the top for the cycle on Shanghai, Shenzhen and the ChiNext has now taken place.”
Technology and smaller companies led the fall, with China’s smaller exchange in Shenzhen sinking 20 percent from this year’s peak.
Morgan Stanley said their reasoning was based on increased equity supply, weak earnings growth, high valuations and the surge in margin debt, saying the Shanghai Composite may fall as much as 30 percent through mid-2016.
Aberdeen Japan Investment Trust performing well
Aberdeen Asset Management’s Japan Investment Trust appears to be one to watch, boasting a solid performance; share prices have risen 5.7% over the past 3 months and are up 41.14% on the year.
Their biggest holdings include Japan Tobacco (4.9%), Shin-Etsu Chemical (4.6%) FANUC (4.5%), with 28% of the fund in the consumer goods sector, 21.3% in industrials and 12.6% consumer Services.
The fund’s aim is to “achieve long-term capital growth principally through investment in listed Japanese companies”. In October 2013, the company moved from an All Asia to a Japan only mandate; however, this doesn’t appear to have affected performance
The fund manager reports that Japanese equities had a positive month, rising in May and buoyed by stronger US economic data, as well as China’s decision to cut interest rates and liberalise its capital markets further. The yen’s continuing depreciation against the US dollar also enticed foreign buyers who felt that a more competitive exchange rate would favour exporters and flatter earnings because of a positive translation effect. Economic news was somewhat upbeat and the labour market remained tight, with the jobless rate falling to an 18-month low.
Japanese car giant Toyota announced plans to buy back shares for the first time in five years, repurchasing a stake of 350 billion yen; their operating profits continued to grow despite a decline in sales, signalling positivity for the Japanese economy.
However, Looking ahead, the fund’s report suggests that Japan’s economic growth is likely to slow: although first-quarter GDP growth was underpinned in part by business spending, it was also flattered by a substantial build-up in inventory. However, if the fund’s past performance is anything to go by, it may still be an opportunity worth investigating.
Tesco shows early signs of recovery
Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, Tesco PLC (TSCO.L) delivered stronger sales figures than were expected in its first quarter, suggesting that it might be on the road to recovery.
The company reported this morning that same store sales had dropped 1.3% for the first quarter compared to last year, nearly half the 2.3% drop predicted by analysts at Barclays.
Shares in Tesco, down 21 percent over the last year, were up 3.4 percent this morning, their highest price in more than a month.
Tesco has followed the trend of most British supermarkets and had a slow 18 months, with slumping sales and declining profits. In April, Tesco reported the steepest ever full-year loss for a British retailer, arguably the worst year in its 96 year history.
“Our first quarter results represent another step in the right direction,” Tesco’s new Chief Executive Dave Lewis told reporters. “Clearly customers are noticing that we’re investing in the offer.”
Looking forward, Mr. Lewis said he expects to see deflation for the foreseeable future and warned that there is “still an awful lot of volatility out there as we change quite a lot in our business”
Collar Club crowdfunding finance for exclusive shirt company
For those that find popping to the dry cleaners too much of a hassle – let alone actually ironing – look no further than Collar Club, the latest company to launch a campaign on Crowdcube.
In their own words, the rather nattily named Collar Club “exists to free men from the pain of buying, washing, drying and ironing a shirt ever again”. Sounds pretty good so far.
Collar Club have undertaken some revolutionary research and found that most people hate laundry and ironing – but, perhaps unsurprisingly, men hate it more. And from that simple fact, the business was born.
The idea is simple; following a free trial fit, customers can order up to eleven shirts on a monthly subscription basis, which can be replaced every 12 month. The old shirts are then either kept by the customer, or donated to charity. If you’re lucky enough to be living in London, for an additional fee you can arrange to have five shirts a week taken away for laundering, and replaced with a fresh sheet of workday shirts – you can even choose whether you’d prefer them delivered folded or hung.
Aiming for an exclusive market, their target customer is a man earning £75,000 or more, working long hours, travelling frequently who has limited downtime. Obviously, men like these don’t wish to be stuck inside completing domestic tasks such as ironing in their rare moments to themselves – fortunately, the Collar Club’s service is here to help.
Their milestones are clear: they raised £298K seed funding between in August & December 2014 and completed the development of the product, branding and design work. Their logo, a wolf in a suit and tie, has a rather Christian Grey-esque feel – which probably depicts the company’s brand rather well.
They are aiming to raise £150,000 via crowdcube, in return for 6.98% equity. They are currently on £76,210, with 35 people investing. Collar Club will use the funding raised to invest in marketing and advertising, working capital and staffing costs.