A 25-minute listen. 

James Carthew, director at Marten & Co, talks to Gary Shepherd about current issues around investment companies, including fund manager transparency, quality of boards and insider trading. 

James asks why open-ended property funds were not converted to REITs after they were gated, and talks about the improvement in the quality of boards that has happened in his long years working in the industry.

On the issue of Patient Capital Trust, James believes its current discount suggests that investors do not believe its NAV and asks why the board did not serve notice to embattled manager Neil Woodford – even if they don’t follow through with replacing him.

He explains: “It’s three-months’ notice and they should have done it the minute the problems arose. It doesn’t mean they have to sack him at the end of the day, but if you serve protective notice then you don’t have to worry about what happens if that business just collapses completely. You either renew or don’t renew the contract at the end of the three months.”

We’ll have plenty more coverage of investment companies to come on Octo. If you find this interview interesting, why not listen to Annabel Brodie-Smith‘s podcast interview from last month, for a variety of views on similar issues.