The average investment company share price total return was up 12 per cent over 2016, according to the Association of Investment Companies.
There was an average discount of minus 4.7 per cent at the end of November which was in line with where the average discount began the year at end January, although two percentage points wider than where it closed 2015 (minus 2.7 per cent).
Over the course of 2016 there has been some discount volatility with the end of June, after the UK’s referendum on the European Union, seeing the average investment company discount widen to minus 7.3 per cent – its widest in three-and-a-half years.
The sector also reached a new record for total assets under management, which hit £157.8bn at the end of October – increasing by 57 per cent in just over three-and-a-half years.
Ian Sayers, chief executive of the AIC, said: “2016 has been a year of change and the investment company sector has also seen its fair share of change from strategic reviews and policy changes, through to management group changes and a proposed merger.
“We’ve also seen a good number of companies announce changes to their charging structures, with ‘tiered’ charging structures becoming a key trend.
“Assets under management reached a new record high, boosted by the sector’s high exposure to overseas assets amid sterling’s weakness.
“And whilst new issue activity has been muted this year, share issuance on the secondary market has been strong, particularly among income focused companies.”
New issue activity was lacking, with only four investment companies coming to market, raising £630m, compared to the 17 new issues in 2015 raising £2.6bn.
Taking into account both inflows and outflows, the sector saw net fundraising of £0.7bn.
damian.fantato@ft.com
