Half-year Report

RNS Number : 5065X

Hansa Trust PLC

24 November 2017

Hansa, investing to create long-term growth

Half Year Report

Six Months Ended

30 September 2017

2017

Welcome

I'm pleased to present our Half Year Report to the shareholders. The last six months has continued to see further growth of shareholder value in a world with increasing uncertainties both at home and abroad. I trust you will find our thoughts on the current market and our prospects (both short and longer-term) interesting.

The Company held a well-attended AGM in July 2017. As in previous years, for those of you who could not attend, I have noted a number of the points discussed at the AGM in my Statement.

Finally, by the time this Report is published, you will no doubt have noted that the first interim dividend of 8.0p per share for the year to 31 March 2018 was paid on 30 November 2017.

Yours sincerely

Alex Hammond-Chambers

THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT and if you are a holder of Ordinary shares it requires your immediate attention. If you are in doubt as to the action you should take or the contents of this document, you should seek advice from an independent financial advisor, authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 if in the UK, or other appropriately authorised financial advisor if outside of the UK. If you have sold or transferred your Ordinary shares in the Company, you should send this document and any accompanying Form of Proxy, immediately to the purchaser or transferee, or to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for onward transmission as soon as practicable.

COMPANY REGISTRATION AND NUMBER: The Company is registered in England & Wales under company number 126107.

Chairman's Report to the Shareholders

Alex Hammond‑Chambers

Chairman

Shareholder Returns

It is now over 3 1/2 years since we embarked upon a new approach to our strategy for earning returns from a portfolio of investments with exposure to international stock markets. You may remember that we replaced our investments in large UK multinational companies with a rather more tightly focused set of internationally focused funds. We remarked at the time that it would take time to bear fruit, but the returns earned in the past 18 months suggest that the fruit is beginning to ripen. Certainly, the returns earned since the changes are better than those that would have been earned had no changes been effected.

As the graph above illustrates, the net asset values' annualised five year returns to end September are improving, amounting to circa 7.5% p.a. over the most recent five years and by a useful total return of circa 5.7% over the most recent six months (which, although an extremely short time period to compare returns, happens to be better than our three KPI comparators). Alec Letchfield's report goes into more detail on the returns earned over the half year.

5 Year NAV Performance to 30 Sept 2017

	Sep-12	Sep-17
Net Asset Value	1,005.94p	1,345.21p	33.7%
Net Asset Value (Total Return)	(Total divs paid 79p)		43.2%

Net Asset Value ("NAV") per HT Share

	Rest of Portfolio	OWHL	Total NAV
September 2012	627.9p	378.0p	1,005.9p
September 2017	924.3p	420.9p	1,345.2p
Change	296.4p	42.9p	339.3p
Change	47.2%	11.3%	33.7%

The discounts (although still high) have, I am pleased to be able to report, receded over the period (see table below). We have made it clear that, for a number of reasons, we do not seek to plug the shortfall in demand for our shares (that helps create the discounts) by buying in our shares, but rather to meet that shortfall in demand by going out and telling the Hansa Trust story in order to attract new investors and thence new, outside demand. We are being helped in this by working with Edison (an investor PR firm) and, in the process, getting useful investor feedback; I am happy to say we are being quite well received and that, we believe, is beginning to be reflected in our share price.

As announced on 16 October, we have declared (as forecast earlier in the year) the first of our 8p per share interim dividends to be paid to shareholders on 30 November.

5 Year share price Performance to 30 SepT 2017

	Sep-12	Sep-17
Ordinary Share Price	734.0p	967.50p	31.8%
Ordinary Share Price (total return)	(Total divs paid 79.0p)		44.9%
Discount: Ordinary Share	-27.0%	-28.10%
'A' Ordinary Share Price	715.0p	957.5p	33.9%
'A' Ordinary Share Price (total return)	(Total divs paid 79.0p)		47.4%
Discount: 'A' Ordinary Share	-28.9%	-28.8%

6 month share price Performance to 30 SepT 2017

	Mar-17	Sep-17
Ordinary Share Price	866.50p	967.50p	11.7%
Ordinary Share Price (total return)	(Total divs paid 8.0p)		12.7%
Discount: Ordinary Share	-32.4%	-28.10%
'A' Ordinary Share Price	848.0p	957.5p	12.9%
'A' Ordinary Share Price (total return)	(Total divs paid 8.0p)		14.0%
Discount: 'A' Ordinary Share	-33.8%	-28.8%

The Annual General Meeting

Once again we had good attendance at our Annual General Meeting (held on the 28 July). We received presentations from Alec Letchfield on the portfolio, from William Salomon on Brazil, from Rob Murphy (of Edison) on investor relations and from me on more general corporate matters. Once again we received a number of pertinent questions and comments from the attendees. Amongst those fielded were:

• Noting that the two discounts remained persistently above 30%, what could be done to reduce them? Surely a limited buy-back programme would be helpful?

• Separately, would the discount benefit from the payment of a higher dividend, paid in part, out of capital returns?

Answer: We are addressing the issue of high discounts by improving the returns (as mentioned above) and by employing Edison to help us create new demand by going out and telling the story (again as above). The Board believes this will create new demand for the shares and naturally drive down the discount over time.

I explained the policy behind the dividend, which was already being paid, in part, out of capital returns. At the time of the 2014 changes, the dividend being paid was 16p per share. Given that the portfolio switches would result (they did) in lower portfolio dividend income, it was decided to maintain the 16p per share until such time as the net portfolio income caught up with the cost of the 16p dividend and then increase it in line with the increases. The Board didn't believe that, taking the other issues into consideration, a higher dividend would reduce the discount.

• How could the negative perception of Brazil be addressed?

Answer: Mr Murphy of Edison responded to the question by saying that investors wanted to know more about the story behind Wilson Sons (and thence Brazil) and why the Board regarded the holding in Ocean Wilsons as such a good long-term investment. He explained that marketing visits to investors helped to tell the Wilson Sons' story and to clarify the Board's optimism.

Mr Salomon gave a summary of the history behind some of the events occurring in Brazil today and some of the possible political outcomes (which might well prove to be positive for investment in Brazil). He also spoke about the long-term prospects for Wilson Sons, about which he felt quite positive - given the strength of its management and the breadth of its opportunities.

• Noting the 1% ongoing charges ratio, was not the fee still too high - particularly considering the considerable investment in funds?

Answer: The fee is reviewed every year by the Board, taking into consideration the levels obtaining in the marketplace for portfolio management.

In respect of fees charged on the investment in funds, I made the point that, whether in equities directly or through funds, the research and decision making still had to earn acceptable net returns - whatever the security of the investment. It was the net returns that shareholders were paying for.

• How much does the Edison service cost?

Answer: £65,000.

• Why does the Portfolio Manager pick individual equities?

Answer: Alec Letchfield answered this by stating Hansa Capital Partners' (the Portfolio Manager) investment team does have the skills and experience to make direct equity investments and that it benefits from its association with some high quality portfolio managers, who produce some interesting ideas for investment.

Longer-Term Prospects

Politics tends to determine economic policies, which, in turn, determine economic (and thence financial) outcome. Having enjoyed largely benign economic polices since 1980, politics and political policies are now right back in the mainstream of investors' concerns. In fact, probably the biggest long-term uncertainty at the moment is the quite extraordinary revolution in technology. The world we live in ten years hence will probably be materially different in many ways - how we generate energy, how we transport ourselves around, how we use machines (many of which are yet to be invented), how we manage our health, how we are governed, and so on. In this sense it makes long-term investing particularly intriguing, because the opportunities are numerous but the pitfalls equally so.

There is an election in Brazil in 2018 and with it is the possibility of a more stable government and better economic policies. As political and economic improvements unfold (Brazil is emerging from a deep recession), so the prospects for our investment (through Ocean Wilsons) in Wilson Sons improve. Indeed the share price of Wilson Sons has moved up recently - reflecting, we believe, an improved optimism. Alec Letchfield's report goes into some detail on the current situation.

As for the rest of the portfolio, much depends on the investment environment and how it unfolds. Given the extent of the financial crisis of 2007/09, a slow recovery in economies was always on the cards. However, world economies would now appear to be in growth sync, growing steadily, but at the same time accumulating more and more debt in the process.

With slow economic growth, it was reasonable to suppose stock markets would also recover rather slowly. In fact, courtesy of Quantitative Easing, they've performed rather better than they might have done and, to-date at least, there are no obvious equity excesses to bring a halt to the nine year bull market. But, by and large, stocks are not cheap in relation to some of the risks they face (particularly of rather higher inflation and thence higher interest rates) and so are vulnerable to some sort of setback. It is why we have taken on (gradually) a rather more defensive approach to the portfolio structure - recognising the possibility of a setback.

We are confident that our portfolio - containing investments in well managed companies and funds - is set to provide good long-term (short-term is not easy to assess) returns for shareholders as the benefits of the 2014 changes continue to have an impact.

Alex Hammond‑Chambers
Chairman
24 November 2017

Half Year Management Report

The Directors present their Report and Condensed Financial Statements for the six months to 30 September 2017.

THE BOARD'S OBJECTIVES

The Board's primary objective is to achieve growth of shareholders' value over the medium to long‑term.

THE BOARD

Your Board consists of the following persons, each of whom brings certain individual and complementary skills and experience to the Board's workings. Individual profiles for each member of the Board can be found in the Company's Annual Report and on our website.

Alex Hammond‑Chambers (Chairman of the Board), Jonathan Davie (Chairman of the Audit Committee), Raymond Oxford, William Salomon and Geoffrey Wood.

BUSINESS REVIEW FOR THE SIX MONTHS TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2017

The business review, which includes an indication of important events which have occurred within the six months to 30 September 2017, is covered in the Chairman's Report to the Shareholders and the Portfolio Manager's Report.

KEY RISKS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR TO 31 MARCH 2018

The key risks and uncertainties relating to the six months ended 30 September 2017 and for the year to 31 March 2018 are covered in the Chairman's Report to the Shareholders, the Portfolio Manager's Report and also within the Notes to the Financial Statements.

GOING CONCERN BASIS OF ACCOUNTING FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR TO 31 MARCH 2018

The Directors consider it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing these Half Year Financial Statements. The Directors do not know of any material uncertainties to the Company's ability to continue to adopt this approach over a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of these Financial Statements.

The Directors include a Long-Term Viability Statement in each Annual Report.

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

During the period, Hansa Capital Partners LLP charged portfolio management fees and company secretarial fees to the Company, amounting to £1,152,000, excluding VAT (year to 31 March 2017: £2,110,000). Amounts outstanding at 30 September 2017 were £191,000 (31 March 2017: £189,000).

THE BOARD'S RESPONSIBILITIES

The Board is charged by the shareholders with responsibility for looking after the affairs of the Company. It involves the 'stewardship' of the Company's assets and liabilities and 'the pursuit of growth of shareholder value'. These responsibilities remain unchanged from those detailed in the last Annual Report.

The Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge that:

• The condensed set of Financial Statements contained within the Half‑Year Financial Report has been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 'Interim Financial Reporting' and on a going concern basis.

• This Interim Management Report includes a fair review of the information required by 4.2.7R and 4.2.8R of the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

The above Interim Management Report, including the Responsibility Statement, was approved by the Board on 24 November 2017 and was signed on its behalf by:

Alex Hammond‑Chambers
Chairman
24 November 2017

Be Prepared…..

Market backdrop

Almost regardless of what is thrown at it, the current stock market rally shows no signs of abating. Despite the threat of military action, with the ongoing tit-for-tat between North Korea's Kim Jong-un and the US's President Trump, devastation caused by hurricanes and a changing monetary policy landscape, third quarter returns have extended the already robust performance seen so far in 2017.

Equities again had a positive quarter, although the returns of overseas assets were lowered by the effect of a strengthening pound. Global equities rose by 2.2% over the quarter to September (in Sterling terms), taking the year-to-date return to 8.1%. Driving performance this year have been the emerging and frontier markets, which both rose by almost 5% during the quarter. Developed markets were more muted but still good with the US, Europe and Japan returning some 1.3%, 3.4% and 1.0%, respectively, over the three month period.

Global bonds declined slightly over the quarter, largely as a result of currency moves. Global sovereign bonds were down 1.4%, investment grade credit fell 0.7% and high yield bonds declined slightly by 0.1%.

Alternative assets were more mixed, reflecting their diverse nature and varied fundamental drivers. Oil prices were especially strong, with Brent rising by over 13% in the quarter. Industrial metals rose by 6.7%, while gold was flat in Sterling terms. Hedge funds delivered modestly positive returns, but overall continue to be disappointing compared to most asset classes in 2017.

Preparing for the worst

As articulated in recent commentaries, our core position remains one of favouring equities. This is based on the belief that a recession, which typically goes hand-in-hand with bear markets, does not appear to be imminent, and growth, if anything, is improving and becoming more synchronised globally. We are very much in the camp of believing that the depth of the previous downturn, combined with the subsequent sluggish recovery, will likely result in a protracted economic cycle which may last for longer than many people expect. Banks, which are central to the health of economies and have an uncanny habit of finding the next economic black-hole, continue to be managed in a more conservative fashion. Bank leverage is a shadow of what it was prior to the global financial crisis and the mind-set is still very much one of de-risking by protecting the more defensive retail assets from the more risky investment banking businesses.

Furthermore, we still do not see the levels of excess and exuberance associated with downturns. Despite the current bull market reaching its eighth anniversary it does not feel like that, with many investors still holding meaningful cash positions, despite having been burnt in previous downturns. We are seeing some isolated signs of excess, such as high levels of private equity investment and instruments such as covenant-lite loans reappearing, but not the normal range of flashing indicators associated with market tops.

Hence, on balance, we continue to have a constructive view on markets. It is, however, worth pausing to make a couple of observations. Firstly, at the risk of stating the obvious, the length of the bull market suggests we are nearer the end of the current cycle than the start. Secondly, we would note that identifying tops of bull markets is akin to pinning the tail on the donkey. While you may have a sense of where you stand it is impossible to say with complete accuracy!

It therefore makes sense to think about the types of assets one would want to own in a more challenging environment and then plan to progressively increase their allocation over time.

Fixed income, and especially developed market government bonds, were historically the defensive asset class of choice. When starting yields were higher they were a dream asset, providing both a decent running yield during the good times, but also downside protection when riskier assets such as equities came under pressure. For this reason, a balanced portfolio of equities and bonds has produced some of the best risk adjusted returns over recent cycles.

The challenge now, of course, is that yields have collapsed to multi-decade lows, on the back of the unprecedented central bank policies of slashing interest rates and engaging in mega bond purchase programmes through quantitative easing ("QE"). With interest rates already rising in the US and discussions on how QE programmes will be exited in the US, UK and Europe, it is natural to assume that the environment for bonds will become increasingly challenging and they may not, therefore, fulfil the same defensive roll in the next downturn, and indeed they may even be at its epicentre.

On balance we suspect rate rises will be tempered, with policy markers being very well aware of the dangers of shocking the market and raising rates too aggressively. Nonetheless, the risks of a policy mistake are undoubtedly very real.

Outside of government bonds it is possible to access higher yields with corporate bonds, but even here the spreads between their yields and those of government bonds are historically low. Furthermore, with corporate default rates typically increasing during bear markets, especially when accompanied by recessions, their defensive characteristics can be limited. This applies particularly to the high yield market.

For this reason we believe investors may need to be a little more creative when investing in the bond space. Investing in floating rate notes for example, with coupons linked to interest rates, helps protect them against future interest rate rises. Also, some specialist bond managers are increasingly originating their own loans, in an environment where banks are less willing to lend, helping them generate higher returns and enabling them to build in greater security.

Historically, hedge funds were also thought to be defensive. However, this was called into question during the Global Financial Crisis, when performance was often disappointing and many funds were forced to limit redemptions due to poor underlying liquidity. Fee levels have also come under scrutiny and these remain excessive in many cases, which acts as friction to long-term investment returns.

We take a more nuanced position on hedge funds, viewing them as a range of different strategies, as opposed to a defined asset class. Some are clearly more defensive than others and whilst we feel hedge funds do have a place in an investor's tool box, one needs to be wary of those managers claiming to deliver 'alpha' when in fact they are only generating market 'beta'.

Within this defensive bucket of hedge funds we would include CTA funds. The term CTA or Commodity Trading Advisor is a generic name given to those companies and funds investing in managed future accounts. Their defining characteristic is that they are typically based on price trend-following models, trading in multiple different asset classes, which are systematically executed by computers. In many ways trend‑following strategies stand in contrast to what we believe in at Hansa, where we are primarily centred on fundamentals and valuations. It is this difference though that makes them interesting. Blending the two strategies together has historically generated a portfolio that has produced better returns at points of market distress and, for that reason, we believe they deserve a place in a portfolio.

A second hedge fund strategy that has typically performed well in past periods of market weakness is discretionary macro investing. Unlike systematic strategies such as CTAs, which are computer based, discretionary macro funds rely on the skill of the underlying fund manager. Trading movements in a wide range of macro events, these managers were historically very adept at predicting shifts in interest rates based on central bank decisions. With rates globally converging towards zero this removed the opportunity set for these managers which, combined with high fees, has meant returns have been lacklustre at best. The big question from here is whether or not an environment of diverging interest rates, as economies exit the downturn at different speeds again, creates a more favourable backdrop for macro managers.

There are a multitude of other hedge fund strategies that have defensive characteristics, albeit each needs to be assessed on their own merits. For example, there are event-driven managers, trading mergers & acquisitions and broader corporate activity, which often seek to hedge out market risk. Alternatively there are long-short equity managers attempting to identify potential winners and capitalise on being short of losers.

Another strand of defensive investments is that of real assets. Be it infrastructure or real estate, these assets have a number of attractions. They provide a yield from their operations and their asset values typically give downside protection. The tangible nature of the underlying assets may also offer some correlation benefits, when combined with broader financial markets, in addition to inflation protection at a time when inflationary pressures may be re-awakening. Real estate assets are fairly well defined (albeit even here assets can range from prime city investments to warehouses servicing the distribution activities of the on-line retail sector). Infrastructure, in contrast is a far broader church, covering regulated assets such as water, ports and toll roads.

Unfortunately these assets have also seen their values driven up by recent extraordinary monetary policy measures. As interest rates were brought down, investors started looking outside of bonds to those assets with similar characteristics and higher returns. Hence real assets such as property and infrastructure have seen their values rise, diminishing future return prospects. There are still sub-sectors which offer higher prospective returns, but this often means dipping into the more esoteric parts of the real estate and infrastructure market with an accompanying increase in risks.

Other potential defensive assets include commodities. This is arguably all commodities, which tend to be beneficial to portfolios when combined with equities, but in practice mainly refers to gold. Gold is very much a Marmite asset with 'gold‑bugs' viewing it as the ultimate preserver of capital, whereas others are more sceptical. We are not saying we would never hold gold but we do sit in the more sceptical camp. Its lack of income generation and the fact that its price is largely determined by a combination of demand for investment and also for jewellery and to a lesser extent some commercial uses, makes it incredibly hard to value. Undoubtedly its tangible nature and the inability of governments to influence supply, as they can with fiat money, provides attractions at points of maximum distress but hopefully these are rare!

And then of course there is cash. Cash is clearly an important component of a portfolio's defensive positioning, not least because it provides firepower to purchase assets which are falling in value during bear markets. Again though, with interest rates low, the returns on cash are negligible and there is an opportunity cost to holding cash for extended periods of time, especially in rising inflation environments which may well be the case going forward.

Portfolio review and activity

Your Company returned 1.9% during the quarter, as its net asset value per share increased from 1,320.2p at the end of June to 1,345.2p at the end of September. This performance takes its return over the first six months of the financial year to 5.6%.

The second quarter performance was just behind the MSCI All Country World Index, which rose by 2.1%, but ahead of the other two Key Performance Indicators, beating the 0.8% increase of the UK CPI and the 0.5% fall of the FTSE Gilts All Stocks Total Return Index.

Core regional funds

The core regional silo produced positive performance over the quarter, rising by 1.8%. Many of the core regional holdings contributed to the performance, but the biggest contributors included Japanese and European positions.

The two largest contributors were Goodhart Partners: Hanjo Fund and Indus Japan Long Only Fund, which rose by 8.8% and 5.4%, respectively, over the quarter. Both funds invest in Japan, and they were able to outperform the country's rising market during the period. The Hanjo Fund concentrates on small-cap companies, while the Indus Fund invests mainly in large and mid-cap stocks. The Indus Fund benefited from the strength of Nexon, a gaming stock that was one of its biggest contributors over the quarter. The company reported good earnings figures that were ahead of consensus, as well as providing upbeat guidance for the rest of the year. The managers of both funds continue to seek to take advantage of improving corporate governance standards in Japan and there are signs of progress being made on this front. Only four companies listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange now have no outside directors at all, down from 587 in 2012, and there are signs of increasing levels of shareholder engagement, with a record number of shareholder proposals so far this year.

The portfolio has two positions in passive European holdings, and both contributed to performance as the European markets continued to do well this quarter. The iShares EURO STOXX Mid UCITS ETF, which focuses on mid-cap European companies, returned 4.7%, while the Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe ex UK Equity Index fund, which invests broadly across Developed European markets, rose by 3.7%. The portfolio's position in the BlackRock European Hedge Fund continues to do well this year, rising another 5.1% during the quarter. The fund has an excellent track record despite a relatively poor year in 2016. The fund's holdings of consumer cyclicals have contributed to performance recently, with the gaming stock Take-Two Interactive rising on the back of good results and increasing recurrent revenue, as the company benefits from online in‑game purchases.

Emerging markets have performed very strongly this year and the portfolio's position in Prince Street Institutional, which invests throughout these markets, produced a good return of 7.0% over the last three months. Frontier markets have not been as strong, although they too have produced positive returns so far in 2017. However, the portfolio's position in SR Global Frontier Markets Fund declined by 4.0% during the quarter.

The largest detractor to performance over the three months has been Pershing Square Holdings, which has continued to underperform. The position declined a further 16.6% during the quarter, as it was hurt by the fall of Chipotle Mexican, the restaurant chain that is the fund's second largest holding, which was damaged by a norovirus incident in Virginia, as well as a disappointing reception to a significant new menu item.

Thematic and Diversifying

The portfolio has positions in three thematic sector funds, which provide exposure to the financial, technology and healthcare sectors. All three produced modestly positive performances over the quarter. The portfolio's exposure to diversifying investments, which includes funds following a wide range of strategies including discretionary macro, systematic and event-driven, has been increased over the last two years in order to provide sources of returns that are less correlated to equity markets, given the relatively high valuations of equities. During the quarter this part of the portfolio experienced mixed performances. The Global Event Partners fund continued to do well, rising by 1.2%, while a new position in CZ Absolute Alpha, a UK long-short equity fund, returned 1.9%. Detractors among the diversifying positions included MKP Opportunity Fund and Schroder GAIA BlueTrend, which fell by 1.1% and 3.2%, respectively.

Global equities

When we are assessing a business's long-term prospects we spend a significant amount of time evaluating management. If we have bought a good business it should be generating capital and executive management's primary responsibility is in allocating that capital to generate the best long-term returns for shareholders. The choices they have are to reinvest in the business or return the cash to shareholders if they cannot invest it at an acceptable return. Poor management teams tend to invest the capital, even if they are unlikely to achieve an adequate return in a bid to build their empires. Great management teams are pragmatic, opportunistic and tend to invest counter-cyclically.

We prefer to have management teams invested alongside us, or if not, at least a motivated controlling shareholder; the average insider holdings in the companies we own is 17% of the shares outstanding, versus just 1.8% for the S&P 500 and 3.1% for the FTSE 350.

We built a position in EXOR during the third quarter. EXOR is a holding company controlled by the Agnelli family (53% share) which holds stakes in Fiat Chrysler, CNH Industrial, Ferrari, PartnerRe, Juventus and The Economist. The chairman and CEO is John Elkann who is a member of the Agnelli family. He has done an outstanding job since taking over in 2003 and created a huge amount of value for shareholders. Since becoming public in March 2009 the total return of EXOR is 947%, versus 228% for the MSCI World Index.

The annualised return of over 30% speaks for itself. His ability to take a long-term view thanks to his family's large stake in the business is invaluable; he can afford to avoid focusing on quarterly and even annual results, unlike many of his peers in the wider market.

During his tenure he has spun off Ferrari, bought back stock when EXOR was trading at a 40% discount, used those shares at a higher price to buy the insurer PartnerRe, diversifying the company away from cyclical end markets, and alongside Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne he engineered a deal with the bankrupt Chrysler to buy it, using Chrysler's own cash.

At the holding company level, he re-domiciled EXOR to Holland in order to reduce the tax rate to less than 1.5%, he reduced the number of employees from 40 to 10 and he cut overall head office costs (including his own salary) to less than 10bps of NAV. The proportion of independent directors on the board has moved from 24% in 2009 to 53% today. Finally, and perhaps the most telling, he created a structure whereby holders of EXOR's companies receive enhanced voting rights related to the length by which they have held the shares.

Just because management are aligned with shareholders and it has a strong track record, it does not necessarily follow that the company is a good investment; to quote Elkann "one more condition which I believe is indispensable: the price must be right". EXOR trades at 70% of the value of the sum of its underlying holdings, which provides us with a margin of safety. However, we believe the holdings are themselves undervalued, so the discount to intrinsic value is actually much larger. On this basis, if EXOR can compound its returns at just one-third of its historic rate then it should be an excellent investment.

Elsewhere the transition to a global equity portfolio has continued with purchases of CBRE, Iridium Communications, Orion Engineered Carbons, Samsung and TripAdvisor. In order to fund these we sold our holding in Goals Soccer Centres and reduced our holdings in UBM, NCC and Brooks Macdonald.

Ocean Wilsons Holdings

The political crisis in Brazil continues, affecting the Company's exposure there through Wilson Sons. Brazil's president, Michel Temer, who replaced Dilma Rousseff following her impeachment last summer, presides over a government with record low approval ratings and has recently himself been accused of criminal charges by the chief prosecutor. The uncertainty that such events cause is not helpful, but after many years of political turmoil in Brazil, this has come to be expected. Meanwhile, Wilson Sons is beginning to reap the rewards of its $1bn investment over the past ten years and its rate of capital expenditure is now declining. Nevertheless, the company's management remains committed to carrying out the expansion project at the Tecon Salvador container terminal, which has previously been agreed with the granting authority and is viewed as crucial in preserving the terminal's competitive positioning. Phase one of the project will see the quay length almost doubled to 800m between the end of 2017 and 2019, and will be followed by further investments to increase the capacity of the terminal.

The Wilson Sons second quarter earnings, which were released in August, were up considerably compared to the same quarter the year before. EBITDA rose by 21.1%, or by 21.4% including the offshore business on a pro forma basis, thanks to solid results in the towage and terminals businesses. In the container terminals division there was strong growth in import volumes at Tecon Rio Grande, which were up 17.6%, driven by spare parts and steel products. In towage, revenues increased by 6.0%, mainly driven by the 5.7% operating volume increase, with better results in some ports and an increased number of calls by grain ships. As expected, there was a reduction in revenues from special operations as the number of salvage and oil & gas operations declined.

Wilson Sons is considering the possibility of a listing on the Novo Mercado segment of the stock exchange. This would require the company to voluntarily adopt good corporate governance practices, in addition to those required by Brazilian law and it is hoped this would help boost the share liquidity, which would be welcomed by investors.

The Ocean Wilsons Investment subsidiary was valued at $259.0m at the end of June 2017, which was an increase of $20.1m (8.4%) from the valuation at the end of December 2016 ($238.9m), after dividends of $3.5m were paid from the portfolio. The portfolio continues to be biased towards equities, both public and private, reflecting its long-term nature.

The Ocean Wilsons Holdings share price has continued to perform well this year, having started on a strong upward trajectory last June. During the third quarter of 2017 the share price rose by another 5.0%. It has risen by 11.7% over the last 12 months and by 16.7% on a total return basis, taking account of the 48.9 pence dividend paid to the Trust in June. The share price represents a discount to the look-through NAV of 35.9%, based on the market value of the Wilson Sons shares, together with the latest valuation of the investment portfolio.

Summary

Market timing is difficult. Whilst a handful of investors have achieved legendary status through identifying past market tops, the list of names that have tried to do this and failed is far longer! This suggests a progressive approach to adding defensive assets is prudent.

The challenge of course is to identify which assets are truly defensive. With almost all assets having seen their prices buoyed by the huge amounts of liquidity injected into markets, prices have become increasingly interconnected. Hence the traditional defensive asset class of choice, fixed income, where one would historically have sought solace, is unlikely to perform this role to the same degree in the next downturn and, indeed, may even be part of the cause of the next bear market.

We have discussed some of the areas that may succeed in preserving capital, although we suspect the skill of the individual manager will become increasingly important in achieving this goal.

Alec Letchfield

September 2017

Portfolio Statement

as at 30 September 2017

Investments	Fair value £000	Percentage of Net Assets
Core Funds
Findlay Park American Fund	15,358	4.8
Vulcan Value Equity Fund	12,003	3.7
Select Equity Offshore, Ltd	11,029	3.4
Goodhart Partners: Hanjo Fund	10,285	3.2
Adelphi European Select Equity Fund	8,792	2.7
Indus Japan Long Only Fund	8,617	2.7
Schroder ISF Asian Total Return	7,111	2.2
iShares EURO STOXX Mid UCITS ETF	5,153	1.6
BlackRock European Hedge Fund	4,970	1.5
Prince Street Institutional Offshore Ltd	4,819	1.5
CF Odey Absolute Return Fund	4,032	1.3
BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust PLC	4,010	1.2
Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe ex UK Equity Index Fund	3,583	1.1
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd	3,175	1.0
NTAsian Discovery Fund	2,935	0.9
SR Global Fund Inc. Frontier Markets	2,539	0.8
Total Core Funds	108,411	33.6
Strategic
Wilson Sons (through our holding in Ocean Wilsons Holdings)*	68,586	21.2
Total Strategic	68,586	21.2
Thematic & Diversifying Assets
Ocean Wilson (Investments) Limited (through our holding in Ocean Wilsons Holdings)*	32,424	10.0
GAM Star Fund PLC - Technology	12,033	3.7
DV4 Ltd **	11,842	3.7
Global Event Partners Ltd	7,914	2.4
Field Street Offshore Fund, Ltd	3,741	1.2
SPDR MSCI World Financials UCITS ETF	3,173	1.0
MKP Opportunity Offshore, Ltd	2,760	0.9
Hudson Bay International Fund Ltd	2,604	0.8
BNY Mellon Absolute Return Bond Fund	2,295	0.7
JLP Credit Opportunity Fund	2,177	0.7
Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy Fund	1,909	0.6
Worldwide Healthcare Trust PLC	1,616	0.5
Pareturn Gladwyne Absolute Credit UCITS	1,606	0.5
GAM Systematic Core Macro Fund	1,316	0.4
CZ Absolute Alpha UCITS Fund	1,286	0.4
Schroder GAIA BlueTrend	1,082	0.3
Total Thematic & Diversifying Assets	89,778	27.8
Global Equities
Hansteen Holdings PLC	9,835	3.0
Brooks Macdonald Group PLC	3,865	1.2
UBM PLC	3,141	1.0
Berkshire Hathaway Inc	2,730	0.9
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd	2,684	0.8
NCC Group PLC	2,673	0.8
Hilton Food Group PLC	2,650	0.8
Alphabet Inc	2,539	0.8
SoftBank Group Corp	2,523	0.8
Interactive Brokers Group Inc	2,516	0.8
Bayer AG	2,282	0.7
EXOR NV	2,125	0.7
CVS Health Corp	2,060	0.6
Liberty Global PLC	2,021	0.6
White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd	1,908	0.6
Howard Hughes Corp	1,757	0.5
CBRE Group Inc	1,694	0.5
Orion Engineered Carbons SA	1,611	0.5
TripAdvisor Inc	1,268	0.4
Iridium Communications Inc	1,146	0.4
Four other investments	933	0.3
Total Global Equities	53,961	16.7
Total Investments	320,736	99.3
Net current assets	2,115	0.7
Net Assets	322,851	100.0

*Hansa Trust owns 9,352,770 shares in Ocean Wilsons Holdings Limited ("OWHL"). In order to reflect Hansa Trust's exposure to different market silos better, our interests in the two subsidiaries of OWHL, Wilson Sons and Ocean Wilsons (Investments) Ltd ("OWIL"), are shown separately above. The fair value of Hansa Trust's holding in OWHL has been apportioned across the two subsidiaries in the ratio of the latest reported NAV of OWIL, that being the NAV of OWIL shown per the 30 June 2017 OWHL accounts, to the market value of OWHL's holding in Wilson Sons, that being the bid share price of Wilson Sons multiplied by the number of shares held by OWHL at 30 September 2017.

**DV4 Ltd is an unlisted Private Equity holding. As such, its value is estimated as described in Note 7 to the Financial Statement and is listed as a Level 3 Asset in Note 9. All other valuations are either derived from information supplied by listed sources, or from pricing information supplied by third party fund managers.

Financial Statements

Condensed Income Statement

For the six months ended 30 September 2017

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2017			(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2016			(Audited) Year ended 31 March 2017
	Revenue £000	Capital £000	Total £000	Revenue £000	Capital £000	Revenue £000	Revenue £000	Capital £000	Total £000
Gains on investments held at fair value through profit or loss	-	13,333	13,333	-	42,294	42,294	-	52,575	52,575
Exchange gains on currency balances	-	81	81	-	2	2	-	111	111
Investment income	5,605	-	5,605	5,205	-	5,205	6,194	-	6,194
	5,605	13,414	19,019	5,205	42,296	47,501	6,194	52,686	58,880
Investment management fees	(1,102)	-	(1,102)	(980)	-	(980)	(2,010)	-	(2,010)
Other expenses	(606)	-	(606)	(558)	-	(558)	(1,123)	-	(1,123)
	(1,708)	-	(1,708)	(1,538)	-	(1,538)	(3,133)	-	(3,133)
Profit before finance costs and taxation	3,897	13,414	17,311	3,667	42,296	45,963	3,061	52,686	55,747
Finance costs	-	-	-	(2)	-	(2)	(2)	-	(2)
Profit before taxation	3,897	13,414	17,311	3,665	42,296	45,961	3,059	52,686	55,745
Taxation	(20)	-	(20)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Profit for the period	3,877	13,414	17,291	3,665	42,296	45,961	3,059	52,686	55,745
Return per Ordinary and 'A' non‑voting Ordinary share	16.1p	55.9p	72.0p	15.3p	176.2p	191.5p	12.8p	219.5p	232.3p

The Company does not have any income or expense that is not included in the Profit/(Loss) for the period. Accordingly the "Profit/(Loss) for the period" is also the "Total Comprehensive Income for the period", as defined in IAS 1 (revised) and no separate Statement of Comprehensive Income has been presented.

The total column of this statement represents the Income Statement, prepared in accordance with IAS 34. The supplementary revenue and capital return columns are both prepared under guidance published by the Association of Investment Companies.

All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.

Condensed Balance Sheet

as at 30 September 2017

	(Unaudited) 30 September 2017 £000	(Unaudited) 30 September 2016 £000	(Audited) 31 March 2017 £000
Non‑current assets
Investment in subsidiary at fair value through profit or loss	629	629	629
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss	320,736	291,446	299,671
	321,365	292,075	300,300
Current assets
Trade and other receivables	2,138	1,929	4,106
Cash and cash equivalents	771	6,564	4,059
	2,909	8,493	8,165

Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	(1,423)	(952)	(985)
Net current assets	1,486	7,541	7,180

Net assets	322,851	299,616	307,480

Capital and reserves
Called up share capital	1,200	1,200	1,200
Capital redemption reserve	300	300	300
Retained earnings	321,351	298,116	305,980
Total equity shareholders' funds	322,851	299,616	307,480

Net asset value per Ordinary and 'A' non‑voting Ordinary share	1,345.2p	1,248.4p	1,281.2p

Condensed Statement of Changes in Equity

For the six months ended 30 September 2017

(Unaudited)

	Share capital £000	Capital redemption reserve £000	Retained earnings £000	Total £000
Net assets at 1 April 2017	1,200	300	305,980	307,480
Gains for the period	-	-	17,291	17,291
Dividends	-	-	(1,920)	(1,920)
Net assets at 30 September 2017	1,200	300	321,351	322,851

Condensed Statement of Changes in Equity

For the six months ended 30 September 2016

(Unaudited)

	Share capital £000	Capital redemption reserve £000	Retained earnings £000	Total £000
Net assets at 1 April 2016	1,200	300	254,075	255,575
Gains for the period	-	-	45,961	45,961
Dividends	-	-	(1,920)	(1,920)
Net assets at 30 September 2016	1,200	300	298,116	299,616

Condensed Statement of Changes in Equity

For the year ended 31 March 2017

(Audited)

	Share capital £000	Capital redemption reserve £000	Retained earnings £000	Total £000
Net assets at 1 April 2016	1,200	300	254,075	255,575
Gains for the year	-	-	55,745	55,745
Dividends	-	-	(3,840)	(3,840)
Net assets at 31 March 2017	1,200	300	305,980	307,480

Condensed Cash Flow Statement

For the six months ended 30 September 2017

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2017 £000	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2016 £000	(Audited) Year ended 31 March 2017 £000
Cash flows from operating activities
Gain before finance costs and taxation *	17,311	45,963	55,747
Adjustments for:
Realised gains on investments	(7,089)	(3,521)	(4,234)
Unrealised gains on investments	(6,244)	(38,773)	(48,341)
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	(81)	(2)	(111)
Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables	1,385	17	(1,456)
Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables	1	(8)	25
Taxes paid	(20)	-	-
Purchase of non‑current investments	(47,715)	(30,176)	(49,307)
Sale of non‑current investments	41,003	29,956	50,439
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating activities	(1,449)	3,456	2,762
Cash flows from financing activities
Interest paid on bank loans	-	(2)	(2)
Dividends paid	(1,920)	(1,920)	(3,840)
Net cash outflow from financing activities	(1,920)	(1,922)	(3,842)
(Decrease)/Increase in cash and cash equivalents	(3,369)	1,534	(1,080)
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April	4,059	5,028	5,028
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	81	2	111
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period/year	771	6,564	4,059

*includes dividends received of £5,495,000 (2016: £5,221,000) and interest received of £3,000 (2016: £3,000).

Notes to the Condensed Financial Statements

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Financial Statements of the Company have been prepared under the historical cost convention, except for the measurement at fair value of investments, and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as adopted by the European Union.

The Half Year Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 "Interim Financial Reporting" and are consistent with the basis of the accounting policies set out in the Company's Annual Report and Accounts at 31 March 2017.

These Financial Statements are presented in Sterling, the currency of the primary economic environment in which the Company operates.

2 INCOME

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2017 £000	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2016 £000	(Audited) Year ended 31 March 2017 £000
Income from quoted investments
UK dividends	460	897	1,701
Overseas and other dividends	4,842	4,209	4,254
Property income distributions	300	96	232
	5,602	5,202	6,187
Other income
Interest receivable on AAA rated money market funds	3	3	7
Total income	5,605	5,205	6,194

3 DIVIDENDS PAID

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2017 £000	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2016 £000	(Audited) Year ended 31 March 2017 £000
Second interim dividend for 2017 (paid May 2017): 8.0p (2016: 8.0p)	1,920	1,920	1,920
First interim dividend for 2017 (paid November 2016): 8.0p (2016: 8.0p)	-	-	1,920
	1,920	1,920	3,840

Note: The first interim dividend for 2018, payable in November 2017 will be 8.0p per share (2017, paid November 2016: 8.0p).

4 RETURN PER SHARES

The returns stated below are based on 24,000,000 shares, being the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period.

	Revenue		Capital		Total
£000		Pence per share	£000	Pence per share	£000	Pence per share
Six months ended 30 September 2017 (Unaudited)	3,877	16.1	13,414	55.9	17,291	72.0
Six months ended 30 September 2016 (Unaudited)	3,665	15.3	42,296	176.2	45,961	191.5
Year ended 31 March 2017 (Audited)	3,059	12.8	52,686	219.5	55,745	232.3

5 FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The financial information contained in this Half Year Report is not the Company's statutory accounts as defined in section 434-436 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial information for the six months ended 30 September 2017, and 30 September 2016, has not been audited or reviewed by the Auditors and has been prepared in accordance with accounting policies consistent with those set out in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2017.

The statutory accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2017 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and received an Audit Report which was unqualified, did not include a reference to any matters to which the Auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying the report and did not contain statements under section 498 (2), (3) and (4) of the Companies Act 2006.

The Half Year financial information was approved by the Board of Directors on 24 November 2017.

6 NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE

The NAV per share is based on the net assets attributable to equity shareholders of £322,851,000 (30 September 2016: £299,616,000; 31 March 2017: £307,480,000) and on 24,000,000 shares, being the number of shares in issue at the period ends.

7 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

The Company has a commitment to DV4 Ltd, an unquoted property investment company. As at 30 September 2017, the Company's commitment was fully drawn and the interest free loan referred to in past reports had been fully repaid (30 September 2016: undrawn commitment £702,302; 31 March 2017: undrawn commitment £nil). DV4 Ltd is an unlisted Private Equity holding. As such, its value is estimated as described in Note 9 to the Financial Statement where it is listed as a Level 3 Asset. All other valuations are either derived from information supplied by listed sources or from pricing information supplied by third party fund managers.

8 PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The principal financial and related risks faced by the Company fall into the following broad categories - External and Internal. External risks to shareholders and their returns are those that can severely influence the investment environment within which the Company operates: including government policies, taxation, economic recession, declining corporate profitability, rising inflation and interest rates and excessive stock market speculation. Internal and operational risks to shareholders and their returns are: portfolio (stock and sector selection and concentration), balance sheet (gearing), and/or administrative mismanagement. In respect of the risks associated with administration, the loss of Approved Investment Trust status under s.1158 CTA 2010 would have the greatest impact.

A review of the half year and the outlook for the Company can be found in the Chairman's Report to the Shareholders and in the Portfolio Manager's Review.

Information on each of these areas is given in the Strategic Report within the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2017. In the view of the Board these principal risks and uncertainties are applicable to the remaining six months of the financial year as they were to the six months under review.

9 FAIR VALUE HIERARCHY

Fair Value Hierarchy

IFRS 13 'Fair Value Measurement' requires an entity to classify fair value measurements, using a fair value hierarchy that reflects the significance of the inputs used in making the measurements. The fair value hierarchy has the following levels:

Level 1: quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;

Level 2: inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly (ie as prices) or indirectly (ie derived from prices); and

Level 3: inputs for the asset or liability not based on observable market data (unobservable inputs).

The financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value in the statement of financial position are grouped into the fair value hierarchy, are detailed below:

30 September 2017 (Unaudited)	Level 1 £000	Level 2 £000	Level 3 £000	Total £000
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss
Quoted equities	163,760	-	-	163,760
Unquoted equities	-	-	11,854	11,854
Fund investments	8,326	136,796	-	145,122
Investment in subsidiary	-	-	629	629
Net fair value	172,086	136,796	12,483	321,365

30 September 2016 (Unaudited)	Level 1 £000	Level 2 £000	Level 3 £000	Total £000
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss
Quoted equities	157,111	-	-	157,111
Unquoted equities	-	-	11,398	11,398
Fund investments	-	122,937	-	122,937
Investment in subsidiary	-	-	629	629
Net fair value	157,111	122,937	12,027	292,075

31 March 2017 (Audited)	Level 1 £000	Level 2 £000	Level 3 £000	Total £000
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss
Quoted equities	147,035	-	-	147,035
Unquoted equities	-	-	11,860	11,860
Fund investments	5,167	135,609	-	140,776
Investment in subsidiary	-	-	629	629
Net fair value	152,202	135,609	12,489	300,300

There have been no transfers during the period between levels.

The Company's policy is to recognise transfers into and out of the different fair value hierarchy levels at the date of the event or change in circumstances that caused the transfer to occur.

A reconciliation of fair value measurements in Level 3 is set out in the following table:

	(Unaudited) September 2017 Equity investments £000	(Unaudited) September 2016 Equity investments £000	(Audited) March 2017 Equity investments £000
Opening Balance	12,489	12,614	12,614
Transferred from Level 1	-	-	3,129
Purchases (Capital Drawdown)	-	-	702
Sales (Capital Distribution)	-	(462)	(700)
Total gains or losses included in gains on investments in the Income Statement:
- on assets sold	-	462	700
- on assets held at year end	(6)	(587)	(3,956)
Closing Balance	12,483	12,027	12,489

As at 30 September 2017, the investments in DV4 Ltd and Acertec Ltd have been classified as Level 3. The investment in DV4 has been valued using the most recent estimated NAV as advised to the Company by DV4, adjusted for any further drawdowns, distributions or redemptions between the valuation date and 30 September 2017. The most recent valuation statement was received on 21 August 2017, with an estimated NAV based on the unaudited capital statement of DV4 as at 30 June 2017. The value of Acertec has been based upon the liquidation proceeds of this company due to Hansa Trust in March/April 2018. If the value of the unquoted Level 3 equity investments were to increase or decrease by 10%, while all other variables had remained constant, the return and net assets attributable to shareholders for the period ended 30 September 2017 would have increased/decreased by £1,185,401.

Investor Information

The Company currently manages its affairs so as to be a qualifying investment trust for ISA purposes, for both the Ordinary and 'A' non-voting Ordinary shares. It is the present intention that the Company will conduct its affairs so as to continue to qualify for ISA products. In addition, the Company currently conducts its affairs so shares issued by Hansa Trust PLC can be recommended by independent financial advisers to ordinary retail investors, in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority's ("FCA") rules in relation to non‑mainstream investment products and intends to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The shares are excluded from the FCA's restrictions which apply to non‑mainstream investment products, because they are shares in an investment trust. Finally, Hansa Trust is registered as a Reporting Financial Institution with the US IRS for FATCA purposes.

Investor Disclosure

The Company's AIFM, Maitland Institutional Services Limited, hosts a Hansa Trust Investor Disclosure document on its website. The document is a regulatory requirement and summarises key features of the Company for investors. It can be viewed at:

www.maitlandgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hansa-Investor-Disclosure-Document-2017-updated-30.10.17.pdf

Capital Structure

The Company has 8,000,000 Ordinary shares of 5p each and 16,000,000 'A' non‑voting Ordinary shares of 5p each in issue. The Ordinary shareholders are entitled to one vote per Ordinary share held. The 'A' non‑voting Ordinary shares do not entitle the holders to vote or receive notice of meetings, but in all other respects they have the same rights as the Company's Ordinary shares.

Contact Details

Hansa Trust PLC

50 Curzon Street, London W1J 7UW

Telephone: +44 (0) 207 647 5750

Fax: +44 (0) 207 647 5770

Email: hansatrustenquiry@hansacap.com

Website: www.hansatrust.com

The Company's website includes the following:

- Monthly Fact Sheets

- Stock Exchange Announcements

- Details of the Board Statements

- Annual and Half Year Reports

- Share Price Data Reports

Please contact the Portfolio Manager, as below, if you have any queries concerning the Company's investments or performance.

Hansa Capital Partners LLP

50 Curzon Street

London W1J 7UW

Telephone: +44 (0) 207 647 5750

Email: hansatrustenquiry@hansacap.com

Website: www.hansagrp.com

Please contact the Registrars, as below, if you have a query about a certificated holding in the Company's shares.

Link Asset Service

The Registry

34 Beckenham Road

Beckenham

Kent BR3 4TU

Telephone: 0871 664 0300
(Calls cost 12p per minute plus your phone company's access charge. If you are outside the United Kingdom, please call +44 371 664 0300. Calls outside the United Kingdom will be charged at the applicable international rate. We are open between 9.00 am - 5.30 pm, Monday to Friday excluding public holidays in England and Wales.)
Email: enquiries@linkgroup.co.uk
www.linkassetservices.com

Share Price Listings

The price of your shares can be found on our website and in the Financial Times under the heading 'Investment Companies'.

In addition, share price information can be found under the following:

ISIN Code

Ordinary shares GB0007879728

'A' non-voting Ordinary shares GB0007879835

SEDOL

Ordinary shares 787972

'A' non-voting Ordinary shares 787983

Reuters

Ordinary shares HAN.L

'A' non-voting Ordinary shares HANA.L