Over the course of January 2026, the NAV of the Fund increased by 6.0% (A Acc GBP), outperforming the UK real estate index* which increased by 5.6%. Since its launch, the Fund has increased by 7.2% (A Acc GBP), outperforming the UK real estate index* which has fallen by 12.2% over the same period.

During the month the Fund declared a Q4-25 gross dividend of 0.9151p (A Inc GBP). This means that the Fund’s dividend grew by 7.8% over the course of 2025, compared to UK CPI of 3.4%.

The strategy of the Fund is to invest in a diversified portfolio of thematic real assets. The Fund’s 21 investments are set to benefit from four socio-economic mega trends: ageing population (15.6% portfolio weight), digitalisation (28.9%), generation rent (14.5%), and urbanisation (12.3%). It will also invest in REITs with assets that encompass more than one of these trends (25.2%).

Within each mega trend, the Fund Manager undertakes fundamental research to identify the most attractive investment opportunities. Combining top-down analysis of socio-economic mega trends with bottom-up fundamental research has yielded good results for the Fund.

January was a strong month for the UK listed real estate sector. The urbanisation mega trend delivered the strongest returns, up 11.3%**. The ageing population mega trend was up 7.0%**, followed by digitalisation and generation rent delivering, 5.8%** and 5.2%**, respectively. The multi-theme basket returned 4.9%**.

M&A, which was a key theme in 2025, continued in January. Deals for Empiric Student Property and PRS REIT completed, meaning that these positions were removed from the Fund. Late in the month, Life Science REIT, which recently began a managed wind-down, was subject to a cash and shares offer from British Land. The offer valued Life Science REIT at 43p per share, a 21% premium to the undisturbed share price. The Fund Manager took the opportunity to sell the Fund’s position in Life Science REIT following this announcement. Elsewhere, Picton Property Income (portfolio weight 5.1%) announced a strategic review and formal sales process, and activist investor Saba Capital wrote to the board of Workspace (portfolio weight 3.3%) proposing a managed wind-down.

Results from the Fund’s underlying holdings for the year to the end of December will start to flow in February, however Safestore’s (portfolio weight 5.1%) financial year ends in October with the Company reporting a good set of full year results in January. Of note, the like-for-like average storage rate rose 2.3%, like-for-like closing occupancy improved to 81% and like-for-like REVPAF (a key metric for self-storage businesses) increased 2.9%. Safestore also made progress on its development pipeline. Frederic Vecchioli, CEO, said: “Safestore is now at an inflection point, where the significant investment we have made in maximum lettable area expansion is driving revenue growth and is set to translate into meaningful growth in earnings and long-term value creation”. The market reacted positively, and Safestore ended the month up 12.4%, beaten only by Great Portland Estates (portfolio weight 2.3%), up 17.4%.

The Fund Manager remains optimistic about the Fund’s performance with continued M&A activity, along with the strong underlying performance of portfolio assets and confidence in the mega trends. Investors should look to the attractive, growing dividend yield and the potential for further upside, with the Fund continuing to invest in defensive, domestic and dependable assets. While growth concerns continue to impact capital markets, the four socio-economic mega trends - ageing population, digitalisation, generation rent and urbanisation - are set to gain.

*MSCI UK IMI Core Real Estate Net Total Return GBP.

**Defined as the calendar month, as opposed to the valuation month.