AVI Global Trust
FormerlyTransvaal Mortgage Loan and Finance Company (1889–1906)
British Empire Land Mortgage and Loan Company (1906–1964)
British Empire Securities and General Trust Limited (1964–2015)
British Empire Trust (2015–2019)
Company typePublic company
IndustryInvestment Management
Founded6 February 1889; 135 years ago (1889-02-06) in London, UK
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Graham Kitchen (Chairman)
Joe Bauernfreund (Investment Manager)
AUMIncrease GBP £1.2 Billion (March 2023)
WebsiteOfficial website

AVI Global Trust is a London-based British investment trust. The company is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[1] The chairman is Graham Kitchen.[2]

History

The company was established in 1889 as the Transvaal Mortgage Loan and Finance Company,[3] led by chairman W.J. Thompson,[4] and invested in what is now South Africa.[3]

It was renamed the British Empire Land Mortgage and Loan Company in 1906, and British Empire Securities and General Trust in 1964.[5]

Asset Value Investors, an employee-owned management company, was established to manage the firm, then valued at £6 million, in 1985.[6]

The company's goal of acquiring other companies trading below their Net Asset Value led it to attempt takeovers of other investment trusts trading at a discount.[3] In 1986, the company acquired Ashdown Investment Trust for £66 million.[7] In 1989, it mounted a hostile takeover bid for Schroder Global Trust: it had been building up a stake in the target company over a two-year period.[8] In 1995, it acquired the Selective Assets Trust (formerly the Edinburgh Assets Trust)[9] for £42 million.[7]

It simplified its name from British Empire Securities and General Trust to British Empire Trust in 2015.[5]

In 2016, the activist US hedge fund, Elliott Management Corporation, built up a large stake in the company.[10][11][12][13] The investment was seen as one of Elliott's successful investment positions in the UK.[14]

It changed its name from British Empire Trust to AVI Global Trust in May 2019.[15][16]

Between 2019 and 2020, the company invested heavily in SoftBank Group and other Japanese stocks.[17] The company's strategy has been to take advantage of Softbank's share buyback programme.[18][19] This has supported the company's market capitalisation on the London Stock Exchange which was £751 million in July 2020.[20] It has also built up a significant holding in Pershing Square Holdings, a hedge fund.[21]

ESG Investing

AVI became signatories of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in April 2021.[22]

References

  1. ^ "FTSE 250". FTSE Russell. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  2. ^ "AVI Global Trust appoints Graham Kitchen as chair". Morning Star. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Costello, Miles (27 March 2019). "British Empire Trust". The Times. p. 50. - via ProQuest.
  4. ^ Goldmann, Charles Sydney (1896). South American Mines; Their Position, Results, & Developments: Together with an Account of Diamond, Land, Finance, and Kindred Concerns: Volume 2. Effingham Wilson & Co. p. 156. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b Newlands, John (2016). The History of British Empire Trust (PDF). AVI Investment Management. p. 4. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Asset Value Investors - AVI". Asset Value Investors.
  7. ^ a b "History".
  8. ^ Schroder and British Empire set to lock horns in bid battle Glasgow Herald, 4 February 1989
  9. ^ Edinburgh Assets Trust Oldest Scottish Companies
  10. ^ Dakers, Marion (30 June 2016). "Hedge fund Elliott builds stake in British Empire Trust". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Elliott Advisors builds 5% stake in British Empire trust". Investment Week. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Elliott Advisors takes stake in British Empire Trust". Ft Advisor. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  13. ^ "In the papers: Hershey, Lloyds Banking Group,Bank of England". Proactive Investors. July 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Activist hedge fund Elliott scores successes in UK". Financial times. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Name Change". Shares Magazine. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Goodbye British Empire as old trust investor changes name". Citywire. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  17. ^ "AVI rides SoftBank surge as Japan activism becomes its big bet". Investment Trust Advisor. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  18. ^ "SoftBank shares attractive near-term as buyback eyed - UK's AVI". Nasdaq. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  19. ^ "AVI rides SoftBank surge as Japan activism becomes its big bet". Citywire. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Numis adds Scottish Mortgage to recommended list". Investment Week. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Buying opportunity for AVI Global". Master Investor. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  22. ^ "ESG Policy" (PDF). Asset Value Investors.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

Further reading

External links


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