I noticed Nick Train’s Finsbury Growth & Income investment trust had trailed last year’s market:
FGT’s share price currently sits where it was in July 2019…
… and six months from now the trust’s three-year performance may not be attracting many investors.
Longer term of course, Mr Train’s long-term buying and holding of quality companies has performed well:
But it’s always worth double checking what FGT has been doing – just in case something is up.
FGT’s 2020 and 2021 annual reports provide handy portfolio details:
My tables below show FGT’s main purchases for the years to Sept 2020…
| Share | Purchase price (£) | Recent price (£) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever | 43.87 | 39.35 | (10.3%) |
| Diageo | 27.02 | 38.75 | 43.4% |
| Heineken | 113.06 | 83.49 | (26.2%) |
| Fever-Tree | 12.73 | 25.60 | 101.1% |
| Experian | 28.52 | 34.14 | 19.7% |
…and Sept 2021:
| Share | Purchase price (£) | Recent price (£) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diageo | 26.49 | 38.75 | 46.3% |
| RELX | 17.20 | 22.33 | 29.8% |
| Fever-Tree | 23.48 | 25.60 | 9.0% |
| Experian | 29.84 | 34.14 | 14.4% |
So Mr Train has not been buying complete duffers. The largest disappointer, Heineken, is down in part due to GBP-EUR fluctuations. ‘Safe haven’ Unilever was in hindsight not the best stock to pile into when the pandemic created many ‘recovery’ opportunities elsewhere (e.g Fever-Tree).
Mr Train’s big investment idea of 2020-21 seems to be Experian. He writes in FGT’s 2021 annual report:
Experian is one of the newer holdings in the Company, initiated in mid-2020. It is, like RELX and LSE, a globally important data/ analytics company that happens to have its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange. Frankly I should’ve invested in it years ago, but finally the pleading of my younger colleagues prevailed and we are now building what I expect will become one of the top holdings in the portfolio.
All fair enough. But he seems to have paid 30x or more for the stock…
…and the danger is the share price treads water as earnings catch up with the valuation.
FGT’s portfolio value declined by £169m during 2020 and rebounded by £164m during 2021 giving a net decline of £5m.
The biggest gainers and losers in absolute monetary terms during those two years were:
| Share | Change (£m) |
|---|---|
| Diageo | 27,351 |
| Remy Cointreau | 26,009 |
| RELX | 24,885 |
| Schroders | 23,032 |
| Fever-Tree | 14,602 |
| DMGT | 12,217 |
| HL | (45,601) |
| Unilever | (34,966) |
| Burberry | (23,740) |
| Heineken | (20,743) |
| Euromoney | (12,776) |
| Other | 4,855 |
| Total | (4,875) |
A possible explanation for FGT’s modest progress is that some of the quality names held (e.g. Hargreaves Lansdown, Unilever Burberry) are presently pausing for breath after their past valuations became too optimistic.
Form this quick look, Nick Train has not obviously lost it. I doubt anyone two years ago would have predicted Diageo strongly outperforming Unilever and Schroders strongly outperforming HL. As well as the laggards recovering, Mr Train requires larger standstill holdings such as the LSE, Mondolez and Sage to pick up.
Mr Train’s latest factsheet (
FGT_Factsheet_November_2021.pdf (295.8 KB)
) does not suggest his LTBH style will be changing:
We have held Remy since 2015 and it has, thankfully, been a wonderful investment – its shares quadrupling over the period. The investment case is simple – there is a strong correlation over time between growing global wealth and the consumption of premium cognac…
I remember when we first bought shares some clients wondered if Remy wasn’t “expensive”, because its P/E was higher than the sector and market averages. It transpires Remy wasn’t expensive in 2015, because growth has been delivered, but also because consumers’ growing propensity for luxury and aspirational products and experiences promises to keep on growing. So, although Remy’s shares continue to look “expensive” today, we expect they are not actually so and, indeed, we continue to add to the holding.
So patience required. Anyone here keeping the faith and holding FGT?
Maynard