ITs Bought

[mike]

I buy ITs for income to complement my HYP, and I'm the same - as long as the yield is OK, I tend to ignore fees and any premium/discount. I won't say I ignore them totally if something is well out of line, but the small differences discussed above for me are irrelevant.

Earlier it was noted that MYI is now at a discount - I topped up MYI on Friday because of its price & hence yield, not because it was at a discount.

Mike

[eyeball08]

Regarding HFEL versus AAIF thank you very much for your thoughts on the actual country weightings BBLSP1 and Itsallaguess. That is exactly what I was missing and was very useful. Slow response due to grandchildren duties today. 3 of my 4 ITs are still in positive territory on capital but that may not last but would of course allow topping up at favourable prices if can stay brave. Keep telling myself it is the income mainly needed (retired 8 years ago).
eyeball

[BrummieDave]

I'm looking to add to existing investments first thing Monday, and am drawn between Murray International, HFEL, City, and Murray Income. I already have all four, and am not looking to address any under/over weight positions. It's a straightforward new investment. On a LTBH, income biased but would like capital to grow to a lesser degree, which has become the most attractive over past few days? I'm favouring Murray International but wonder what others think?

I've compiled the table below based on divis paid (so hopefully yield going forward will be a tad higher) and share price at close on Friday.



So in terms of straightforward yield, it looks like HFEL is out in front. (minor point - HFEL is registered in Jersey so there is no 0.5% tax).

Thanks, I hadn't realised that about HFEL and Jersey, very interesting.

BTW I think you've inadvertently switched Murray Income (MUT) with Merchants (MRCH), the latter yielding around 5.3% as you show, but the former yielding just under 4.5%.

I'm still pondering, why is this so hard?

[ReformedCharacter]

I'm looking to add to existing investments first thing Monday, and am drawn between Murray International, HFEL, City, and Murray Income. I already have all four, and am not looking to address any under/over weight positions. It's a straightforward new investment. On a LTBH, income biased but would like capital to grow to a lesser degree, which has become the most attractive over past few days? I'm favouring Murray International but wonder what others think?

I have some HFEL and MYI, both of which I topped up last time they looked cheap. In both cases that was a good move. Since this is a High Yield board, I'd have to suggest going for HFEL on that basis, However MYI is tempting at over 4% yield. Bruce Stout (the manager) is interesting, here's an interview with him on MoneyWeek with Merryn Somerset Webb. The interview is nearly 3 years old but gives a flavour...

https://moneyweek.com/bruce-stout-interview/

RC

[monabri]

BrummieDave

Yes, I forgot to mention MUT (Murray Income Trust) in the table. I only tabulated its sister Murray International (MYI).

Indeed, MUT yield is ~4.5%.

So we have HFEL,MYI,CTY,MRCH and MUT for yield comparison.

Cheers
Monabri

[Wizard]

My thinking on HFEL v AAIF is that the top holdings by country according to the AIC website are:

HFEL: China 30.4% and S. Korea 16.4%

AAIF: Australia 27.2% and Singapore 17.3%

These represent nearly half of the holdings for each fund. Now China may run out of steam and S. Korea currently has geo-political risks whereas some may consider Australia and Singapore to be safe haven locations.

I currently have HFEL to my upper limit of holding and am now considering AAIF – it is at a discount of 7% and the 4.3% yield is reasonable.

Just a quick warning on country breakdown if you use Hargreaves Lansdown. I just looked at HFEL and on the Overview screen it shows the Top 10 countries as:
China: 19.69%
Australia: 19.03%
Taiwan: 16.36%
South Korea: 11.56%

But if you open the 31st December Fact Sheet they link to lower down it shows a breakdown far closer to that BBLSP1 quotes. Looks like HL's numbers are way out of date or just plain wrong.

Terry.

[Wizard]

HFEL seems a good buy.

I wonder why some buy AAIF Aberdeen Asian income in the same sector, when HFEL Henderson Far East has a considerably higher yield as well as better growth in share price and NAV over 1 and 5 years. AAIF also has slightly higher charges and higher gearing. Both same size IT's circa 440million.
Am I missing something?

I am also looking at JPMorgan Asian Investment Trust (JAI). According to the AIC website it has performed better than both HFEL and AAIF in terms of total return over the last 5 years. The yield is a little lower at 3.9%. The country mix is similar to HFEL with China by far the biggest constituent at c.30%. It is a little smaller at £365m.

Is there a good reason others have discounted JAI?

Terry.

[Itsallaguess]

Is there a good reason others have discounted JAI?

I didn't discount it - I already own it!

This is one of the factors behind me not considering HFEL, given the high China concentration in both trusts....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[jackdaww]

very interesting thread - thanks.