Athelney Tst. Regulatory News (ATY)

Athelney Trust PLC

Legal Entity Identifier:

213800ON67TJC7F4DL05

The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 294.1p at 31 October 2021.

Fund Manager's comment for October 2021

As predicted in last month commentary, the Chinese economy was clearly disrupted by the renewed COVID outbreak and the potential collapse of Evergrande with a reported quarter-on-quarter GDP growth rate of only 0.2% in Q3, as compared to a 1.2% increase in Q2, and pre-COVID levels of 1.5%. By comparison, the UK economy grew by 5.5% during the second quarter of 2021 while the current account deficit shrank to £8.6 billion as a result of a strong recovery in exports. In the recent budget speech, it was highlighted that the post pandemic recovery has been faster than expected with GDP growth for this year revised upwards to 6.5% from 4%.

Lingering supply chain issues, rising prices and still-strong consumer demand continues to provide a positive impetus to the economic data. Increases in overall inflation have raised expectations of tapering by both the Bank of England (BOE) and the US Federal Reserve. The BOE cited increased natural gas prices as an upside risk and said cost pressures are still elevated, even if likely to be transitory. For the moment, the BOE is holding monetary policy steady but has indicated that a modest tightening in policy would be needed at some point. The European Central Bank (ECB) kept monetary policy unchanged at its October meeting, expecting inflationary pressure to ease over the course of 2022. Eurozone Q3 GDP rose 2.2% quarter over quarter, close to forecast and similar to growth seen in Q2.

The market value of our investments increased by 1.81% in October and, after paying expenses, the NAV per share increased by 1.72%. This compares with a 2.13% increase in the FTSE 100 index and a 0.33% increase in the broader FTSE 250 index. The Fledgling Index increased by 0.44% while both the Small Cap Index and the AIM All-Share Index declined during the month by 0.53% and 1.66% respectively. Overall, the global markets performed much better with the MSCI ending the month up by 5.59% on the back of strong US stock market performance. The broad S&P 500 index was up by 6.91% over the month.

There were no changes to the portfolio during the month and the overall cash position as at the end of October currently represents 3.0% of the portfolio value.

Fact Sheet

An accompanying fact sheet which includes the information above as well as wider details on the portfolio can be found on the Fund's website www.athelneytrust.co.uk under "About" then select "Latest Monthly Fact Sheet".

Background Information

Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl AM

Manny is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of E C Pohl & Co ("ECP"), an investment management company and has been a major shareholder in Athelney trust for many years.

E C Pohl & co is licensed by the Australian Financial services (licence no.421704).

www.ecpohl.com

www.ecpam.com

Manny Pohl and the ECP group has over AU$1700m under its management including four listed investment companies, three listed in Australia and one in the UK:

· Flagship Investments (ASX code:FSI)

AUD95m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au

· Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST)

AUD37m www.barrackst.com

· Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL)

AUD33m www.globalmastersfund.com.au

· Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY)

GBP6m www.athelneytrust.co.uk

Athelney Trust plc Investment Policy

 The investment objective of the Trust is to provide shareholders with prospects of long-term capital growth with the risks inherent in small cap investment minimised through a spread of holdings in quality small cap companies that operate in various industries and sectors. The Fund Manager also considers that it is important to maintain a progressive dividend record.

The assets of the Trust are allocated predominantly to companies with either a full listing on the London Stock Exchange or a trading facility on AIM or ISDX. The assets of the Trust have been allocated in two main ways: first, to the shares of those companies which have grown steadily over the years in terms of profits and dividends but, despite this progress, the market rating is favourable when compared to future earnings and dividends; second, to those companies whose shares are standing at a favourable level compared with the value of land, buildings or cash in the balance sheet.

Athelney Trust was founded in 1994. In 1996 it was one of the ten pioneer members of the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). In 2008 the shares became fully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Athelney Trust has a successful progressive dividend growth record and the dividend has grown every year since 2004. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) Athelney Trust is one of only "22 investment companies that have increased their dividend every year between 10 and 20 years - the next generation of dividend heroes" (as at 20/03/2018). See link

https://www.theaic.co.uk/aic/news/press-releases/seven-investment-companies-join-the-next-generation-of-dividend-heroes

Website

www.athelneytrust.co.uk