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In our note, Spotlight on secondaries, published on 2 March, we noted that ICGT had had a further strong quarter of NAV growth to October 2021 and that one highlight was secondary fund investments. The strategic allocation to these assets could rise to 20%-25% of ICGT’s portfolio over the next few years. The reasons ICGT is increasing the weighting include i) these assets have known underlying investments, ii) they return cash quickly, and iii) they do not incur material future commitments – all fitting ICGT’s portfolio management well. The raised allocation reflects the experience/relationships of the dedicated investment team, who have a good secondary investment track record.

  • Secondary attractions: ICGT will be investing largely in Limited Partner (LP) secondaries, which offer diversified exposure to known underlying companies. These are mature portfolios, which start returning cash quickly and offer the potential for valuation uplifts. They fit well into ICGT’s portfolio construction.
  • 3Q details: High-conviction investments (48.9% of the portfolio) generated local currency returns of 9.3% during the quarter. Third-party funds (51.1% of the portfolio) generated local currency returns of 7.3% during the quarter. The 27 full exits were at a 4.2x multiple to cost. £75m new investments were made.
  • Valuation: NAV valuations are conservative (uplifts on realisations averaging 35% long term). The ratings are undemanding, and the carry value against cost modest. The 30% discount to NAV is anomalous, we believe, with defensive market-beating returns, and is greater than the pre-COVID-19 levels. The yield is 2.0%.
  • Risks: PE’s post-expense returns are consistently market-beating, but this is an above-average cost model. Even though actual experience has been of continued NAV outperformance in economic downturns, sentiment is likely to be adverse. We believe ICGT’s permanent capital structure is right for unquoted and illiquid assets.
  • Investment summary: ICGT consistently generates superior returns, by adding value in an attractive market. ICGT’s focus on identifying companies with defensive characteristics means it is well-positioned to deliver resilient growth. It leverages ICG family synergies. Valuations/governance appear conservative. Risks are primarily sentiment-driven on costs and cyclicality, as well as the underlying assets’ liquidity. It seems anomalous that a business with a consistent record of outperformance is trading at a 30% discount to (October 2021) NAV.
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