Utilico Emerging Markets Trust - Market not reflecting very strong fundamentals

Utilico Emerging Markets Trust (UEM) is managed by Charles Jillings, at specialist value-based investor ICM. He reports that, operationally, the trust’s investee companies are performing extraordinarily well, although this is not being reflected in the market. The manager suggests that investors have multiple distractions including concerns about a US recession, the US presidential election and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. UEM’s investments in infrastructure and utility assets ensure the fund has a consistently low beta. The use of gearing has resumed following the arrangement of a new £50m debt facility, reflecting Jillings’ bullish outlook. UEM has solidly outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index over the last three years. Since inception in 2005, the trust’s NAV total return has compounded at 9.2% per year.