15 Jun 2018 12:53
London, UK, 15 June 2018
Edison issues review on Lazard World Trust Fund (WTR)
Lazard World Trust Fund (WTR) is differentiated from the majority of peers by its focus on discounted assets. Its portfolio is a blend of closed-end funds, investment trusts and holding companies that trade at a discount to the value of their assets, and in particular those where the underlying assets are also undervalued. Manager Kun Deng and his Discounted Assets team at Lazard Asset Management are focused on opportunities wherever they arise, with a longstanding bias to Asian and emerging markets. A key part of the WTR strategy is to engage with the underlying holdings to help unlock value through initiatives such as higher dividend policies, and in the spirit of 'practising what they preach', the fund has announced a new 6% annual distribution, paid quarterly, which will make it one of the highest-yielding equity-focused investment companies.
At 13 June 2018, WTR's shares traded at a 3.3% discount to cum-income NAV. This was narrower than both short- and long-term average discounts (7.8% over one year and c 11.5% over three, five and 10 years) and has the potential to narrow further with the introduction of the new 6% distribution policy. Applying the current WTR discount to the underlying portfolio discount of 24.8% at 30 April gives a 'double discount' of 27.3%, meaning each £1 invested buys exposure to £1.38 of assets.
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