Wednesday, 08 May 2019 11:33
AIC overhauls investment company sectors
The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has revamped its investment company sectors following an industry-wide consultation.
Its new list of sectors and constituents comprises 13 new sectors, 15 renamed sectors and 31 sectors which are unchanged.
The sector reorganisation takes effect from 28 May.
The changes follow a year-long review of investment company sectors which was overseen by the AIC’s independent statistics committee of brokers, research analysts and data providers.
The AIC conducted the review in consultation with its members to ensure its investment company sectors were as clear and helpful as possible for investors.
Several of the new sectors reflect the greater numbers of investment companies investing in alternative assets.
The amount of money invested by investment companies in alternative assets has grown by 92% over the past five years, rising from £39.5bn in 2014 to £75.9bn in 2019.
For example, Sector Specialist: Debt has been separated into three new sectors, Debt – Direct Lending, Debt – Loans & Bonds and Debt – Structured Finance.
Similarly, companies in the Property Direct – UK and Property Specialist sectors have been reclassified as Property – UK Commercial, Property – UK Healthcare, Property – UK Residential or Property – Debt.
Ian Sayers, chief executive of the AIC, said: “We undertook this review to ensure that investment company sectors accurately reflect the shape of the industry today.
“Recent years have seen significant growth in investment companies investing in alternative assets, such as property, debt and infrastructure and the emergence of new asset classes such as leasing and royalties.
“Our new sectors allow investors to find and compare companies with similar characteristics easily. I’m confident the new sectors will play a useful role in helping inform investors’ decisions.”
New sectors
|
New sector |
Sector description |
|
Asia Pacific |
Invests in the shares of larger quoted Asia Pacific companies. |
|
Asia Pacific Income |
Invests in the shares of larger quoted Asia Pacific companies, or high yielding securities, for a high income. |
|
Asia Pacific Smaller Companies |
Invests in the shares of smaller quoted Asia Pacific companies. |
|
Debt – Direct Lending |
Invests in direct lending. |
|
Debt – Loans & Bonds |
Invests in general loans and bonds. |
|
Debt – Structured Finance |
Invests in structured finance. |
|
Growth Capital |
Invests in unquoted shares. Generally takes non-controlling stakes in early to maturing companies. |
|
Property – Debt |
Invests in property debt. |
|
Property – UK Commercial |
Invests in UK commercial property. |
|
Property – UK Healthcare |
Invests in UK healthcare property. |
|
Property – UK Residential |
Invests in UK residential property. |
|
Royalties |
Invests in royalties. |
|
Technology & Media |
Invests in technology and media. |
Renamed sectors
|
New sector |
Old sector |
|
Biotechnology & Healthcare |
Sector Specialist: Biotechnology & Healthcare |
|
Commodities & Natural Resources |
Sector Specialist: Commodities & Natural Resources |
|
Country Specialist: Asia Pacific ex Japan |
Country Specialists: Asia Pacific |
|
Country Specialist: Europe ex UK |
Country Specialists: Europe |
|
Environmental |
Sector Specialist: Environmental |
|
Financials |
Sector Specialist: Financials |
|
Forestry & Timber |
Sector Specialist: Forestry & Timber |
|
Infrastructure |
Sector Specialist: Infrastructure |
|
Insurance & Reinsurance Strategies |
Sector Specialist: Insurance & Reinsurance Strategies |
|
Leasing |
Sector Specialist: Leasing |
|
Liquidity Funds |
Sector Specialist: Liquidity Funds |
|
Property – Europe |
Property Direct – Europe |
|
Property – Rest of World |
Property Direct – Asia Pacific |
|
Renewable Energy Infrastructure |
Sector Specialist: Infrastructure – Renewable Energy |
|
Utilities |
Sector Specialist: Utilities |
Unchanged sectors
|
Country Specialist: Latin America |
Private Equity |
|
Europe |
Property Securities |
|
European Emerging Markets |
UK All Companies |
|
European Smaller Companies |
UK Equity & Bond Income |
|
Flexible Investment |
UK Equity Income |
|
Global |
UK Smaller Companies |
|
Global Emerging Markets |
VCT AIM Quoted |
|
Global Equity Income |
VCT Generalist |
|
Global High Income |
VCT Generalist Pre Qualifying |
|
Global Smaller Companies |
VCT Specialist: Environmental |
|
Hedge Funds |
VCT Specialist: Healthcare & Biotechnology |
|
Japan |
VCT Specialist: Healthcare & Biotechnology Pre Qualifying |
|
Japanese Smaller Companies |
VCT Specialist: Infrastructure |
|
Latin America |
VCT Specialist: Media, Leisure & Events |
|
North America |
VCT Specialist: Technology |
|
North American Smaller Companies |
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