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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, the two Johns turn their attention to the US and the fallout from President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ – events that support our decision to be underweight US equities, and which suggest a great rotation into UK shares could be on the way as the world order shifts once again. We look at the factors behind investment companies’ long-term outperformance of their benchmarks and open-ended counterparts, before turning to the importance of setting long-term investment objectives.

CYN and GPM are investment trusts managed by New City Investment Management, which specialise in naturalresources and precious metals. CYN offers diversified exposure to global mining, energy, and commodity markets, including base metals, gold, and shipping, aiming to generate high yields and long-term capital growth. GPM, on the other hand, is a more focused trust dedicated to the precious metals sector, primarily investing in mid-sized gold and silver mining companies. Both trusts leverage New City’s expertise in commodities and macroeconomic trends to provide investors with access to inflation-resistant and high-growth assets in resource-driven industries.In this episode, portfolio managers Robert Crayfourd andKeith Watson discuss their experience as a target of recent shareholder activism within the sector, noting the opportunistic nature of Saba Capital’s attempts to restructure these vehicles and emphasising the long-term benefits of closed-ended funds for investing in commodities and energy.They also explain gold’s recent surge, driven by strong central bank demand, geopolitical uncertainties and inflation concerns, and why gold mining equities still present a compelling investment opportunity despite having lagged gold’s rise. They discuss their strategy of targeting mid-sized mining companies with strong management teams, sound financials, and the ability to self-fund expansion, and why increasing national self-interest reinforces their optimistic outlook for gold and resource-based investments.

Holding almost £1.5bn of assets, VEIL is the largest of three major trusts focusing exclusively on Vietnam, with a mandate of seeking long-term capital growth by investing in companies primarily operating in Vietnam. The company’s largest sector weightings are towards telecoms, technology, and financials. In this interview, Dominic Scriven OBE, Chairman and Founder of Dragon Capital, the asset manager behind VEIL, explains to us why he believes Vietnam generates so much interest among Western investors, including its demographic, cultural and geographic strengths, and a government focused on continuous reform and becoming a high-income country by 2045; the regulatory changes coming to Vietnam’s capital markets that should help drive further foreign and domestic investment into its markets; the big trends that VEIL targets, including infrastructure development, capital market growth, global supply chain dynamics, and the growth of the consumer economy; and, as Vietnam moves closer to emerging market status, the opportunities arising from Vietnam's maturing private sector and a coming wave of IPOs from its next generation of industry.

Welcome to The Two Johns, the investment trust podcastbrought 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, they head to the Continent to explain why after a long period of economic stagnation now could be the time to buy into Europe’s unloved markets, they go back to basics to explore what makes investment trusts such useful vehicles for long-term investors, and they take a deep dive into the Dividend Portfolio and how it reliably delivers a 7% yield.

Co-managed by Ian Lance alongside Nick Purves, TMPL is a prominent UK equity income fund best known for its value-investing approach. Focused on income and long-term growth, it targets investments in undervalued areas such as financials, energy, and turnaround situations, which has helped it deliver returns far in excess of the UK investment company average, including a 19% return in 2024, more than double the 9.5% return from the FTSE All Share. The company can invest up to 30% of its portfolio overseas but is currently weighted more to the UK given the managers’ belief in the value its markets offer. In this podcast, Ian explains how the trust’s bottom up investment approach has driven the fund’s performance, and how corporate share buybacks and takeovers have proved a catalyst for improved returns; why the company seeks out turnaround stories, and why its successful contrarian investment in retailer Marks & Spencer has further to run; how the company manages economic cyclicality and the deteriorating UK economic outlook, and why periods of economic distress create opportunities as other investors overreact to bad news; the importance of starting point valuations as a foundation for future outperformance; and why the managers remain optimistic about the company’s prospects in 2025, citing the persistently low valuation of UK equities and the portfolio’s high dividend coverage.

ANII is a single-county investment company focused on India's equity market. It aims for long-term capital growth by targeting high-quality companies with strong fundamentals, leveraging a bottom-up investment approach to identify ‘compounders’ — businesses capable of delivering consistent outperformance over time. India’s robust macroeconomic reforms, favourable demographic trends, and structural economic growth are central to ANII's investment thesis, and it takes a conviction approach to play this, running a portfolio of 40-42 companies spanning financial services, healthcare, and consumer markets.In this interview, John Hughman chats to James Thom, Senior Investment Director at Abrdn and co-manager of ANII. They discuss India’s investment potential and the company’s strategy to tap into it; the macroeconomic improvements, including policy-driven stability, and the country’s ‘demographic dividend’ and growing per capita wealth as catalysts for growth; why India’s premium valuations are justified, and how a benign economic and political backdrop is likely to drive further corporate earnings growth; India’s growing involvement in global supply chains and how they are offset by persistent challenges, including job creation and geopolitical risks.

Welcome to The Two Johns, the investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron will be joining 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, they discuss why small companies could be about to stage a long-overdue fightback, the inconvenient market truth behind the research of leading finance academic Hendrik Bessembinder, and the reasons for Saba’s 7-0 defeat while acknowledging this doesn’t mean activism and investment companies don’t mix.

SHED is a real estate investment trust specializing in last-mile logistics used in supply chain fulfilment. The company focuses on ‘mid-box’ properties (20,000–200,000 square feet) near urban areas and key transport hubs. Since its IPO in 2016, Urban Logistics has grown its portfolio to 134 properties worth £1.2 billion, with a strategy centred on active asset management, value creation, and low-risk financing.In this podcast we speak to CFO/COO Jamie Waldegrave and CIO Justin Upton about how the company’s laser focus on last mile logistics property has helped it build its unique portfolio and reduce its cost of capital; how it puts its deep sector knowledge to use to acquire high-potential properties with the potential for major rental uplift through targeted refurbishments; the strength of its tenant base, and how it reduces downside risk by avoiding sectors like fast-fashion; and how poor sentiment towards the wider retail sector has created a major opportunity to tap into the significant dividend streams underpinned by sharp operational management and disciplined financial management.

BNKR is a FTSE 250-listed investment company focused on delivering long-term capital growth in excess of its FTSE World Index benchmark and inflation-beating income growth to its shareholders. Established in 1888, it invests in a diversified portfolio of global equities aiming to tap into global trends in GDP growth, in particular the rapid growth on offer in Asia. That’s translated into a 57-year record of raising dividends, with a dividend paid every year since inception. In this interview we speak to lead manager Alex Crooke about the importance of the three Us (“Unloved, under-owned and undervalued”) to the company’s investment philosophy; why the team is balancing the portfolio to take advantage of faster growth in emerging Asia; building macro analysis by in-region experts into the company's bottom up stock picking approach; looking past AI hype to opportunities in the broader US market; and why the global economy is likely to experience a ‘soft landing’ that supports the manager's cautiously optimistic outlook.

Welcome to The Two Johns, the new investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron will be joining 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 our third episode, we delve into the high-stakes world of activist investing, focusing on Saba Capital’s bold moves within the UK investment trust sector; then, in our ‘Investment Insight’ segment, we discuss the pitfalls of forecasting and why sticking to fundamentals often trumps speculative predictions; before rounding off by considering how to adjust your investment strategy as you approach the end of your investment journey.