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(Alliance News) - Strategic Equity Capital PLC said Friday it underperformed against its comparative index in the first half of its financial year, despite favourable conditions during the period driven by the UK general election.
The investment firm also announced that it has entered heads of terms to appoint Gresham House Asset Management Ltd as its new investment manager and alternative investment fund manager.
This is with the intention that Aberdeen Standard Gresham House Investment Management Ltd, the proposed joint venture between Gresham House PLC and Aberdeen Standard Investments to assume these roles once conditions for the JV are met.
For the six months to the end of December, the investment firm said its net asset value total return was 8.5%, compared to the FTSE Small Cap excluding Investment Companies Index, which returned 10.9%.
Strategic Equity's net asset value per share as at December 31 was 286.07 pence, up 22% from 233.72p the same date the year before, and 7.9% from 265.12p at the end of June.
The firm's share price at the end of December was 245.00p, reflecting a discount to net asset value of 14%.
Shares in Strategic Equity Capital were up 3.0% on the day Friday at 164.00 pence.
The company said its solid performance for the period was driven by the UK general election in December, where share prices responded favourably to a majority win for the Conservatives, with domestic cyclical stocks leading the way.
"Following the outcome of the UK general election in December, UK equity markets raced ahead until late January 2020, when Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, took to the stage. Since then stock markets have suffered heavily amid widespread economic disruption. There are so many variables at play here that predicting what will happen with this pandemic seems futile. While the fear factor is adversely affecting stock markets at present, future market moves will depend on how far the disease spreads and how long it is around," said Chair Richard Hills.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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