Tencent takes a 12% stake in Snap
Tencent is embarking on a circumnavigation of the Digital Life pie in order to build an ecosystem to challenge the established Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook dominance of consumer digital services
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Tullow’s Araku result completes our 2017 wells to watch list
At the start of this year, we highlighted seven exploration wells due to be drilled in 2017, all involving independent companies and targeting resources over 100mmboe. The results from the last of these wells, Tullow’s Araku, were announced last week, with the offshore Suriname well proving the presence of gas condensate but with no significant reservoir quality rocks.
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Government bonds in the firing line
The next twist in the story is likely to push global yields higher
It is always important to put aside preconceptions and let all the data speak – and not just that which confirms prior beliefs. At present, the data which best models the long-term outlook (valuations) are suggestive of relatively weak returns in global equities and this has informed our cautious positioning. Furthermore, bond yields and interest rates remain unusually low on a historical basis. Yet for the short-term, economic surprises are currently positive, business sentiment strong and profits growth relatively robust. It is this short-term data which also needs to be heard.
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HBM Healthcare Investments top holding AAA receives takeover bid from Novartis
Tender offer for 100% of radiotherapeutic oncology specialist Advanced Accelerator Applications at 25% premium to 30 September valuation
Switzerland-based global healthcare giant Novartis has announced a takeover bid for Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), the largest holding of specialist investment fund HBM Healthcare Investments (HBMN). The deal values AAA, whose Lutathera treatment for neuroendocrine tumours was granted EU approval in September 2017, at US$3.9bn.
Facebook, fake news
“There is in fact a silver bullet but the real problem that Facebook has is that it has no idea how to make it”
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Witan Investment Trust announces the appointment of two European equity managers
Appointment of CRUX Asset Management and S. W. Mitchell Capital
Witan Investment Trust (WTAN) has announced the appointment of two European equity managers: CRUX Asset Management and S. W. Mitchell Capital. CRUX is a specialist asset management company with an emphasis on European equities and S. W. Mitchell is an investment boutique focused exclusively on European equities. Each manager has been allocated c 5% of WTAN’s assets (c £100m), funded by the liquidation of the pan-European portfolio that had been managed by Marathon Asset Management, plus an additional £24m from WTAN’s cash resources. Both portfolios will be benchmarked against the FTSE Europe ex-UK index. Following the transition, WTAN will have 10 external managers, each running regional, high-conviction mandates. WTAN’s executive team will continue to manage up to 10% of the trust’s assets in collective funds.
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