In this episode, John Hughman welcomes back Keith Watson and Robert Crayfourd from New City Investment Management to discuss GCL, a UK-listed investment trust focused on the global nuclear energy sector. Managed by Keith and Robert, the trust is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the resurgence of nuclear power, with a mandate that allows them to invest across the full supply chain. As governments and industries seek stable, zero-carbon energy solutions amid the rising power demands of AI and data centres, GCL aims to provide investors with access to high-conviction uranium equities that could benefit from this long-term shift. The trust currently trades at a discount, offering additional upside potential, including a value-adding embedded rights issue.The conversation spans the key drivers of the “nuclear renaissance,” from geopolitics and energy security to climate policy and AI-driven electricity demand. Keith and Robert explain the trust's focused, conviction-led approach, with names like NexGen and UR-Energy forming a substantial part of the portfolio due to their strategic assets and near-term production potential. The episode explores the economics of uranium, the evolving role of small modularreactors (SMRs), and the underappreciated risks of supply chain fragility and the resulting supply-demand imbalances that impact the spot uranium price. With expert insights on geological quality, jurisdictional risk, and capital discipline, the managers detail how their deep sector knowledge helps them identify quality opportunities.
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42:30
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42:30
The Two Johns
Welcome to The Two Johns, the investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron joins former Investors' Chronicle editor John Hughman to discuss the big themes dominating the investment landscape and the important issues affecting the sector, while explaining how these are influencing the way the website's ten live investment trust portfolios are being managed.In this episode, John Baron and John Hughman talk value investing, and why the portfolios are being repositioned in favour of value stocks and markets in anticipation of tougher times ahead, before tackling one of the biggest questions of the day – is capitalism broken, what can be done to fix it, and what does capitalism’s current malaise mean for investors.
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39:41
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39:41
Montanaro European Smaller Companies (MTE)
MTE is managed by George Cooke at Montanaro Asset Management and focuses on delivering capital growth through investments in high-quality, niche smaller companies across continental Europe. The company is held in a number of portfolios and aims to identify well-managed businesses with strong balance sheets, sustainable profitability, and clear structural growth opportunities. Its approach deliberately avoids the economic cycle, choosing instead to invest in businesses capable of growing irrespective of broader macroeconomic conditions. With a deeply experienced and multilingual investment team, Montanaro leverages bottom- up research and regular site visits to uncover under-researched gems. In the interview, George elaborates on the trust’s distinctive bottom-up approach that filters for enduring quality and growth, and the importance of structural growth over cyclical trends; how the scale of its analyst team gives it an edge in conducting due diligence on investments employing frameworks such as Porter’s Five Forces to assess competitive moats and business longevity; how the trust's long-term outlook, emphasis on owner-operators, and willingness to hold positions for a decade or more underpins its strategy; and how the trust’s portfolio is skewed toward industrials and specialist manufacturers, benefiting from Europe’s dense ecosystem of niche players.
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34:01
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34:01
Schroder Oriental Income Fund (SOI)
SOI is a UK-listed investment company which aims to deliver income and capital growth through investments in dividend-paying companies across the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan. Lead manager Richard Sennitt, who has over 30 years of experience in Asian markets, has managed the trust since 2020. The fund adopts a bottom-up, fundamentally driven approach supported by a large team of analysts based throughout Asia. In this podcast, Richard explains the strategy, highlighting its emphasis on strong, sustainable dividends over mere high yields; he discusses the company's regional and sector allocation, and the rationale for portfolio weightings towards Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, and away from India and China. He outlines the methodology behind its rigorous bottom-up stock selection, and how the company is responding to geopolitical developments that are affecting Asia. He also discusses a positive shift in dividend culture across Asia, particularly in markets like Korea and Taiwan, and emphasizes the growing opportunity for income investors in the region.
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28:45
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28:45
The Two Johns
<p>Welcome to The Two Johns, the investment trust podcast brought to you by the website <a href="http://www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk</a>. Each month, John Baron joins former Investors' Chronicle editor John Hughman to discuss the big themes dominating the investment landscape and the important issues affecting the sector, while explaining how these are influencing the way the website's ten live investment trust portfolios are being managed.</p><p>In this episode, they follow up last month's discussion of stickier than expected inflation by explaining how the website's portfolios are positioned to navigate this economic backdrop, before turning to chapter 7 of John's book (The Financial Times Guide to Investment Trusts) to look at the AIC's Dividend Heroes, and how investment trusts are uniquely positioned to deliver such unblemished income histories.</p>
Previously only available to subscribers of www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk, you can now listen here to the interviews we’ve conducted with leading investment trust managers, to our regular interviews in future, and to our new monthly podcast (The Two Johns) where John Baron and John Hughman will be discussing the latest investment and sector themes which influence how the website’s 10 live investment trust portfolios achieve a range of risk-adjusted strategies and income levels. The website’s members are notified whenever portfolio changes are made.
UK