London, UK, 25 October 2019
Edison issues review on Standard Life UK Smaller Companies (SLS)
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies (SLS) has a long-term record of significant outperformance versus its benchmark. Manager Harry Nimmo says that his disciplined investment process, which focuses on quality, growth and momentum, also provides an element of resilience in periods of market weakness. He is encouraged by the trust's growing level of income, which is allowing SLS to employ a progressive dividend policy, and argues that over the long term, investors have been well served by an allocation to smaller UK companies as they have outperformed the broader UK market. The trust's board actively employs a discount control mechanism, and has recently been repurchasing shares as SLS's discount has bumped up against its 8% target maximum.
The board actively manages SLS's discount, aiming for a maximum 8% in normal market conditions; the primary method is via share repurchases. The trust's shares are currently trading at a 5.7% discount to cum-income NAV, which compares with the 5.0% to 7.6% range of average discounts over the last one, three, five and 10 years. SLS has a long-term history of dividend growth, compounding at an annual rate of 17.0% over the last decade; it currently yields 1.5%.
Click here to view the full report.
All reports published by Edison are available to download free of charge from its website
About Edison: Edison is an investment research and advisory company, with offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East and AsiaPac. The heart of Edison is our world-renowned equity research platform and deep multi-sector expertise. At Edison Investment Research, our research is widely read by international investors, advisers and stakeholders. Edison Advisors leverages our core research platform to provide differentiated services including investor relations and strategic consulting.
Edison is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Edison is not an adviser or broker-dealer and does not provide investment advice. Edison's reports are not solicitations to buy or sell any securities.
For more information please contact Edison:
Mel Jenner, +44 (0)20 3077 5720
Sarah Godfrey, +44 (0)20 3681 2519
investmenttrusts@edisongroup.com
Learn more at www.edisongroup.com and connect with Edison on:
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/edison-investment-research
Twitter www.twitter.com/Edison_Inv_Res
YouTube www.youtube.com/edisonitv