Standard Life European Private Equity Trust (SLEPET) differs from many of its private equity fund-of-fund peers in that nearly three-quarters of its investments are focused on Northern Europe and the UK, in contrast to the US.
Since 2007 the trust has taken what it describes as a defensive stance towards sectors, concentrating on healthcare, oil and gas services, educational publishing, aero-engineering and capital goods outside Europe.
Over one year SLEPET is the top-performing private equity fund of fund in terms of net asset value (NAV) return, and second in terms of share price. It has also outperformed the MSCI Europe and the FTSE All-Share indices by at least 5 per cent a year since its launch in 2001, in line with its aim of long-term capital gains.
Analysts expect SLEPET's discount to NAV to tighten and for it to outperform listed equities. SLEPET expects a strong pipeline of exits from its investments as most of its deals are three to five years old.
The fund also began making new investments in April, putting €30m (£26.7m) into Montagu IV, a mid-market buyout fund focused on northern Europe.
SLEPET mainly puts money into funds that invest in mid to large buyouts with a value of between €200m and €2bn. The fund diversifies its portfolio by country, industry sector, maturity of deal and number of underlying investments, accessed via 35 to 40 funds. It has around 510 underlying investments.
SLEPET assesses each manager on its own merits but also considers sectoral trends and the macroeconomic environment, and how a manager adds value throughout the economic cycle.
STANDARD LIFE EUROPEAN PRIVATE EQUITY TRUST (SEP) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| PRICE: | 163p | NAV: | 220.3p |
| MARKET CAP: | £262m | PRICE DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 25.74% |
| No OF HOLDINGS: | 38* | 1-YEAR NAV PERFORMANCE: | 18.16% |
| SET UP DATE: | 29 May 2001 | 3-YEAR NAV PERFORMANCE: | -16.04% |
| MANAGER START DATE: | 29 May 2001 | 5-YEAR NAV PERFORMANCE: | 29.73% |
| YIELD: | 0.12% | TOTAL EXPENSE RATIO: | 1.03% |
| GEARING: | 118% | MORE DETAILS: | slcapital.com |
Source: Investors Chronicle & *Standard Life.
Performance data as at 2 June 2011
Top 10 underlying holdings as at 31 December 2010
| Holding | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Acromas | 3.2 |
| Elior | 2.7 |
| Stork | 2.2 |
| Vivarte | 2.2 |
| Global Refund | 2.0 |
| Bpost | 2.0 |
| Cengage Learning | 1.9 |
| Amadeus | 1.7 |
| Tnuva | 1.6 |
| Converteam | 1.4 |
Sector breakdown
| Sector | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Consumer services | 26 |
| Financials | 19 |
| Consumer goods | 14 |
| Secondary | 13 |
| Technology | 9 |
| Healthcare | 7 |
| Basic materials | 6 |
| Telecoms | 4 |
| Utilities | 1 |
| Oil & gas | 1 |
