The Two Johns: Embracing uncertainty

time pass when you're enjoying yourself, John? Absolutely.

It was

two

years.

I know,

I know, I know.

We're trying to add value in small steps, John.

We are, we are.

And that's the best way to do it.

So let's start with the column and the sort of interesting kind of idiosyncratic investment opportunities that can be found in reasonably good numbers in the world of investment trusts.

One of the things I love about investment trusts is how many sort of areas

they take you into.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, for new members and new listeners, this podcast looks back at the last Investors Chronicle piece I did.

And in June, it was looking at five trusts that could reward investors handsomely.

And We always stress that the 10 real portfolios on the website are carefully constructed and they've got their individual remits, but we've always allowed space for special situations.

And there are times, and you've pointed to it, John, when the wider market volatility creates even more special situations than usual.

I think we're in one of those periods now, and we're not afraid to add special situations to the portfolios as long as we're within remit.

and capitalise hopefully over time accordingly.

So that's the logic of the piece.

We've cited five, and we can discuss them at length if you like.

But the volatility and the investment trust structure, as you well know, John, allows us to take advantage of this volatility because wider than average discounts, provided the fundamentals are in place, suggest sentiment trails those fundamentals, and it's a good buying opportunity.

Yes, indeed.

So I sort of said, you know, idiosyncratic, but special situation is another interesting thing.

What do we mean by a special situation in this sense? Because obviously some of them are a little bit more esoteric, but some of them are very well known, but perhaps have fallen on sort of hard times.