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 (15.2% portfolio weight), digitalisation (29.9%), generation rent (16.4%), and urbanisation (13.0%). It will also invest in REITs with assets that encompass more than one of these trends (24.9%).

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.

Over the course of August, the NAV of the Fund decreased by 1.2% (A Acc GBP) , compared to the UK real estate index 1 which decreased by 1.6%. Since its launch, the Fund has increased by 5.2% (A Acc GBP) outperforming the UK real estate index* which has fallen by 7.9%.

Markets were strong in August, with the FTSE 250 touching a fresh record high early in the month. However, renewed attacks in the Middle East caused progress to stall on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which pushed Brent crude back above $90 a barre l for much of the month. July's inflation data showed an acceleration to 2.9% from 2.6%, a sign that energy pressure is feeding through to markets rather than easing. October 28th was confirmed as the date for the Autumn Budget, however, uncertainty over new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s fiscal plan continues to weigh on market sentiment.

August was a mixed month for the Fund, with multi theme assets, urbanisation and ageing population delivering positive returns. Digitalisation and generation rent delivered negative returns for the
Fund.

The Board of SEGRO (portfolio weight 9.6%) recommended Prologis’s “best and final” cash and stock offer valuing the company at 1,031.7p per share. SEGRO’s shareholders will now vote on the deal, which if approved is likely to take effect during the first half of 2027.

Harworth (portfolio weight 2.6%) received an unsolicited all-cash offer from Peel Group, the company’s largest shareholder. The offer values
Harworth at 172.5p per share, representing a 20% premium to the undisturbed share price and a 26% discount to the NAV. The Board of Harworth unanimously rejected the offer, which in the Board’s view “fundamentally und ervalues” the company and is “opportunistically timed”. Later in August, Harworth announced that it had entered into an exclusivity agreement with a “leading data centre provider” for a powered land sale, similar to the sale to Microsoft a few years ago. Altogether, Harworth’s data centre pipeline amounts to almost 1GW of power in various stages of the procurement process, the upside value of which is mostly not reflected in the company’s NAV.

Tritax Big Box (portfolio weight 7.9%) raised approximately £350mn of equity capital, equivalent to almost 10% of issued share capital. The raise was priced at 164p, or at a 12% discount to NAV. The Fund Manager participated in the raise. The proceeds will be used to “unlock the next wave of data centre growth and returns”, and to that end, Tritax has secured 235MW of additional power for two new data centres, which combined with Manor Farm (147MW) and Chelmsford (125MW), mean that the company is planning to deliver more than 0.5GW of data centre developments out to 2030/31.

Tritax also delivered a strong set of results for the first half of 2026, with like-for-like rental growth of 5% driving a 7% increase in earnings per share and a 4% increase in the company’s dividend. According to Chair Aubrey Adams, “Combined with the proposed equity issue… the enhanced data centre opportunity gives us the ambition to grow adjusted EPS by 65% by 2030/2031”.

The Fund Manager remains optimistic about the Fund’s performance due to the strong underlying performance of portfolio assets and confidence in the mega trends, alongside continued M&A activity. 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 inflationary 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