Hansa Trust (LON:HAN) has undergone a transformation in the past four years and now offers investors a blend of core regional equity funds; thematic exposure to areas including technology; diversifying assets such as hedge funds; direct holdings in global equities; and a longstanding strategic stake in Brazilian maritime services firm Wilson Sons Ltd. The aim is to preserve and grow capital, while giving investors access to assets they would be unable or unlikely to access individually. Possibly as a result of the c 30% holding in Ocean Wilsons Holdings (the majority owner of WSON) and the dual share classes with the majority of voting shares owned by the Salomon family, Hansa Trust has tended to trade at a wide discount to NAV. However, manager Alec Letchfield notes that in an environment of extended equity market valuations, this could be viewed as a margin of safety compared with funds that trade close to or above NAV.
Investment strategy: Preserve and grow capital
Hansa Trust has a diversified global portfolio and a long-term strategic investment in Brazilian maritime services firm WSON via Ocean Wilsons Holdings (OWHL). Fund manager Alec Letchfield, a multi-asset specialist, has overhauled the portfolio since 2014. Alongside the OWHL stake, the trust now has allocations to core regional funds, thematic funds and diversifying (eg. hedge) funds, as well as global equities chosen by manager Rob Royle. The portfolio is meaningfully (c 20pp) underweight North America versus global indices, underweight Europe and overweight the UK.
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