Member Info for Alas_Smith

Perhaps the substantial holding by JT is holding the SP back?

I'm happy to hold for the time being.

The price for the placing is pretty immaterial, it has to be attractive so that it attracts cash. If the company has been able to demonstrate attractive uplift in the underlying NAV and this translates to a growth in the share price, it will be well subscribed.

I believe that the return has actually been pretty lacklustre but the fintech sector is poised for a significant uplift. Decision not yet made, but suspect will participate

ISPY, might be worth considering if cyber security is a priority, otherwise, ATT is a fabulous choice the techie equivalent to SMT. There was a share split recently in case you are alarmed with the chart.

A fund that might also appeal is Polar Global Technology.

I have shares in varying amounts in all of these so am a little prejudiced

Although I am no longer a shareholder, it is a company in which I take interest, but only from an insiders perspective. Don't get me wrong, I think that the promotional market has a future..... however, it has evolved from personalised, post-it notes, gonks and pencils to rather more sophisticated bundles. So, hampers full of the companies own goodies are in vogue (this started last year) and this year it is beer mugs.

On the subject of beer.... the idiots running Irn Bru have made a total nonsense of their promotion for a gold plated can in their bulk packs. The terms stated that it was solid gold (it is gold plate on brass) and worth £15,000 (best valuation thus far has been £500). Anyway, the ASA are involved, Irn Bru will lose and it will cost them £15,000 in folding money - there will be a caveat that the recipient will need to produce the can - and all because tried to be clever and not check out the insurers of such promotion and write the appropriate terms and conditions. The ASA are not interested in the intention the the promotion had or weasel words from senior managers looking to minimise their exposure. Sure - it is going to hurt their profits, but the publicity (although terrible) might have longer benefit.

Looks as if the lessons of the "hoover" promotion are to be repeated.

A Family Investment Company is an unlimited company. It is beneficial if an estate exceeds exceed £3m.

A Discretionary Trust, although fairly costly to setup, once in place is very flexible.

Good plan helping daughters through University. Further education needs reform with many courses downgraded and the education element covered by the State. I have no problem with the maintenance funded nominally by students but most parents, I hope, would wish to support their childrens welfare until they are on the earnings ladder when financial support begins to be withdrawn

Again the NASDAQ is testing new ground with some shares absolutely flying today - mine in NVDA, ILMN, TMO and ADBE are doing very nicely with a stonking advance from Nvidia. It will reflect in the NAV for ATT this week, of course. And although it is disappointing that the SP for the trust is weak against the NAV, it does allow the company to purchase shares and hold them in treasury to re-issue at a later date.

That is one of the great qualities that the managers have....buying shares back and re-issuing at a premium at a later date.

Crystal_Balls, I don't think that I have provided opinion that this is a strong sell, but I have declared when I sold my shares. For clarity it struck me that the market had fully priced the shares based on the re-opening of air traffic and the lowering of regulations. The shares were 1003 from memory but continued to rise.

I do not believe that the share price will drop to have a 7 in front of them (I could be wrong) because there is now a little more information available. We know that the vaccine rollout program in the UK has been a success and this success is being mirrored in Europe. We know that the latest variant is highly viable but appears to be less deadly than the original strain. This is probably due to a combination effect of vaccination, treatment and caution of the middle aged.

However, it seems to be spread by younger adults where vaccine ratio is not to the same level.

My hunch was that European air travel will not return until the Autumn - and by that it implied that while there might be tests or evidence of vaccine, quarantine for travellers was not required, I don't think I actually spelled that out. I am sticking to my hunch.

With chaotic scenes caused through border control entry that a cousin suffered on his flight here from his home in Switzerland, my analysis is that although queues might be horrendous, airport design with few manned booths, ancient computer infrastructure and extra caution needed has the inevitable effect for a very frustrating experience.

Travel will return, but right now is not (again opionion) the point to once again invest in airlines or tourism for recovery. It might be worth considering if there is interim announcement prior to 19th, but in the absence of news, the shares are likely to come under some pressure.

The general public want to go on holiday not only into Europe but also those in Europe that wish to see the UK. The political will in Europe is to keep the viable strains out so that their vaccine program is better rolled out and to keep the UK population at home until there is no need for quarantine regulations. I simply don't see recovery in this sector until September time - by which time the bucket and spade brigade will be back at school, freshers starting courses at University and those returning to work when the furlough scheme fully finishes will be doing their best to ensure that their employer survives.

How much lower the SP goes, I know not - probably to 850p and anything below 875p in my book is worth blowing the cobwebs off my wallet again. It won't help if the price of crude continues to rise.

ali1947fish - I am not qualified to give financial advice - therefore the decision to buy or sell will remain with you. The approach that I take (and others are likely to have different approach) before buying any share is to understand why I am investing in the first place and what my exit strategy is should I decide to own shares.

My reasons are that I want to invest in businesses that are well managed, have a successful track record and have little or no debt where the prospects for capital growth are high. I am prepared to accept a risk that I could lose 50% of my capital. I am not prepared to expose more than 4% of my portfolio to any individual holding. Sectors that I expect to do well include technology, healthcare and alternative energy. Geographic sectors of high appeal are N America, UK, Europe, Asia and South America in that order.

Specifically turning to ATT. It is an investment trust that is able to use leverage to advantage, has an execellent track record through its holdings in technology companies (if you ask the Company Secretary to provide you with a breakdown of ALL holdings, you will recive the information by return) to give exposure to technology giants and minnows that have rewarded their shareholders for many years or are pioneers with next generation cutting edge stuff.

If I were to buy the individual shares in just the 10 top holdings in the trust, I would be paying the market price. Buying them as the constituents of a trust allows me to buy the same shares (and many more) at a discount. That in itself is attractive. Next, if say there was a catastophic event to cause the collapse of say Microsoft, Apple and Google where the shares were suspended, I would still be able to deal in the shares of ATT. I might not like the price, but it gives the comfort of liquidity.

Have to be honest that I am selfish when it comes to looking after my money - I do not make investments with the intention of becoming poorer. If others make money through investment, I am delighted. I've never sold short and tend to focus on no more than 100 companies. I want to know how these companies make money (or expect to make money) and if I do not understand how they do it or what the company actually does, I will walk away. Thus, I am not in the least ashamed o be considered a simpleton. Simple and straightforward is good as far as I am concerned. I've learned that by making lots of mistakes and seldom repeating them.

So, is ATT a good punt or not? It features in MY portfolio but that does not mean that it will or should feature in yours.

While I have no doubt on the verisimilitude of your post regarding the T-44 tank, I am referring to index linked gilts.

R7632, average life expectancy has risen to 81.6 in UK (World Bank figures correct in 2018), but appears to have plateaued. If your family has a history of dying andnotmaking it much beyond 70, there is a pretty good case to assume similar outcome for you. It is the same if most reach 90+

Through a combination of house price inflation and disciplined savings, despite using ISA wrapper, were my wife and I to die now, our estate would attract a substantial IHT bill. We both have a parent alive and yet, ourselves to inherit. There is also the possibility that we and our respective siblings need to help with any care provision, which, as each year passes, greatens.

Hence, with such realisation, and certainly not rich enough to set up a Family Investment Company, we set up a discretionary trust in 2015 and began to settle cash and other assets into that trust. Next year, these begin to fall out of our estate though not enough to cancel liability to IHT. It is also a balancing act to reach our goal so that we can retire comfortably and succession planning.

Some investments can and do fall outside IHT rules, SIPP investments for instance and some AIM investments (complicated rules apply).

You were very fortunate to be able to have retired at 55 and I hope you live in fine health well beyond 80. At that point you might find your expenditure pattern changes.

Herald features in both my ISA, a small trust that was setup in 2015 as I make preparation in advance of the transition of generations (no expiry date in my birth certificate, but rather pass my hard earned on to children to squander than have any Government do the same).

Insofar as inflation is concerned, I bought some T44 last year - too early, of course - but the developed nations such as US, UK and Europe, interest rates are at ridiculous level and far removed from those in say China, India etc. At least interest rates are not those in Turkey or Argentina.

Perhaps, on the subject of inflation and chucking money at things, we would all be wise to heed to lessons of history some 100 years ago when Germany had uncontrolled inflation. The printing of money has all the hallmarks of storing massive problems for youngsters. Rant over.

PS - sorry about all the typo's earlier. I've usually found that most people will work out the gist of my drivel.

I have just come off the telehone to the recycling division of DS Smith as we have a cardboard skip that is now full - the accumulation of scrap boxes - we fill 2 of these each year. In the past we have simply rented the skip from a local supplier and replaced it when full. This time, I thought I wuld give DS Smith a call to see if they would be interested in providing us with a skip every 6 months that we woudl expect to fill with broken down cardboard.

They are not. A pity.

hghotsot, I've owned shares in thei IS for the last 9 years - one of my better performers - selling half my holding in ISA wrapper earlier this year to invest money elsewhere. During this time, the SP has closely tracked the NAV and very occasionally have there been buy signals through what is to all intents and purposes an abberation likened to arbitrage.

The most recent purchase was for my elder son in his ISA account. He is now fully invested but I have a monthly buy order in place in a small dealing account for myself. My ISA account typically places fewer than 8 transactions annually. Dividends from that account allow 1 new puchase at my standard bargain size to be executed annually.

2021 has been a difficult year but I have reinvested profits and am running a little ahead of my target at this stage in the year. I forecast 16.39% capital growth and things are set to exceed 20% growth.

No idea - seems he has a finger in the cookie jar according to news emerging today

hghotshot - the latest valuation has 311.04 and 308.34 (cum-income) which is a discount of somewhere between 9% and 10% depending on preferred numbers. With the NAV rising, either there is a worked order in the background that is keeping the price down or something substantial will change, either with the SP of ATT or a big drop in the NAV.

My hunch is on the SP in ATT rising over the next couple of weeks to close the gap to 5% and the NAV rising by a similar amount. It is very rare that I give a Strong Buy, but I think it is justified. Latest boker notes cite al the top 10 holdings for ATT with a Buy rating. No point in swimming against a tide.

Seems that Sky News has finger on pulse

https://news.sky.com/story/what-are-the-different-types-of-covid-19-tests-and-will-they-get-us-out-of-lockdown-12068081

The domain referred to for an email address is a building that was purchased in 2014 and transformed into offices for our company. It is huge - over 6,000 sq ft. Downstairs has become our HQ and upstairs a 3,000 sq ft apartment which we have for any visitors and our children when they come to stay with any friends and don't want to stay at home.

I will do so next week. I am doubtful if I receive reply, however, if you would care to drop me a message with your email address, I will gladly forward any response. angus@mahk.uk

Well, if it is of any consolation, my company switched to DX last year as our usual provider was re-locating and needed to fit out very large premises and unable to rent alternative space while commissioning work was undertaken. DX had been wooing us for the last 3 years and were commissioned for the work.

We will not be using DX again. Their "next day" service is at best viable for 70% of packages, instances of breakages and "stock evaporation" have soared and their booking system is terrible. When we have large orders that need to be collected, invariably a van of insufficient size is sent and staff turnover is high. Staff are invariably inquisitive on the nature of our work which is impertinence. Our local manager is aware of the issues, things have been escalated every couple of weeks and is now managed from somewhere in Leicestershire. Not a lot of good to a rural part of Mid Wales. And while a holding email to say that managers are aware of the issues and implementing improvements during this summer, that is too little and too late.

So.... although there might be decent enough revenues flowing through the company, the service is atrocious, with 30% of packages mis routed (including those to the same address). Critical items scheduled for a timed next day delivery is shocking.

Good luck to anyone owning shares in this outfit. I wonder how many other enterprises are in the same boat as us.

While I never like it when facts get in the way of a decent story, my only caution with Downing having taken a hefty chunk of shares is that the IT was suspended in November last year just at the point when a recovery in their fortunes began.

Strikes me therefore that the managers (of that trust) are pretty binary - either right or wrong - their fund returned 38.7% between January and May.