SL Capital trust goes global, lowers size remit

Previously, the trust invested in funds targeting portfolio companies with enterprise values of €100m and above. With the shareholders voting to remove these size restrictions, the trust is now able to look for value in the lower end of the market, and invest in funds holding portfolio companies with EVs of €50-100m.

As a result of these changes, alongside its broader global remit, the trust rebranded as Standard Life Private Equity Trust.

Other changes to the trust agreed at the meeting include an increase in the dividend from 5.4 pence to 12 pence per share, and a simplified management fee structure. Investors will now pay a flat management fee of 0.95% of net assets with no associated performance fees. Previous fees were 0.8% of net assets per annum, with an incentive fee of 10% of the growth in the diluted net asset value total return above an annualised 8% hurdle.

Graeme Gunn, head of investment monitoring at SL Capital Partners – the trust's manager – said in a statement the adjustments were made as part of a regular review of the trust's investment strategy, and made with the intention of enhancing the opportunities open to the trust, by providing it with as much flexibility as possible.

The trust was established in 2001, and operates on a fund-of-funds model. Since inception, it has seen its share price grow from 110 pence per share to 295.68 pence at the time of writing.

To 30 September 2016, the trust saw a 12-month total return of 24.8%, and a 27.9% increase in its share price. Over this period, the trust made four commitments to private equity funds, €45m to Advent Invernational GPE VIII, €28.1m to the Sixth Cinven Fund, €23m to Astorg VI and £10.4m to TowerBrook Investors III.

Standard Life Private Equity Trust held interests worth £433.4m in 49 private equity funds at 20 September 2016, and held net assets of £532.6m at the time.

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