In a year that has been characterised by a roller-coaster ride in sentiment, the end outcome is likely to be one that is very positive for those investors who blocked out the noise, held their noses and stayed in equity markets.

Markets picked up where they left off last quarter with nearly all countries seeing markets climb further. The US and China led the way against a backdrop of easing concerns about trade tensions and AI continuing to be the predominant equity market theme. The continuing rise of equity markets, including sharp jumps for some stocks, triggered renewed discussion about the possibility that we are entering a new AI-driven bubble similar to the dotcom boom in the late nineties.

Edison recently published a note on Hansa Investment Company. Hansa offers a portfolio of best-in-class funds that are often hard for retail investors to access. These include country and thematic funds, a portfolio of direct, value-biased global equities and a defensive allocation. Hansa has also recently started a private asset programme. Historically, investors have been wary of Hansa’s illiquid exposure to Brazil, and its complex structure, and this has seen the company trade at a substantial ‘double discount’ of around 50%. However, recent developments are transforming Hansa’s structure. Its position in Ocean Wilson Holdings sold its Brazilian asset, Wilson Sons, and Hansa is currently seeking to combine with Ocean Wilson Holdings. This will greatly simplify Hansa’s structure and accelerate its private asset programme, while also delivering significant benefits to its shareholders and clearing the way for a potential narrowing in the discount.

The webinar, hosted by Fraser Thorne, features Alec Letchfield, partner and chief investment officer at Hansa Capital Partners LLP.

Alec will provide an overview of the benefits to shareholders of Hansa’s forthcoming combination with Oceans Wilsons, and how Hansa’s unique approach offers investors a portfolio of hard-to-access funds, including private equity, combined with value-biased global equities and defensive assets. He also discusses how Hansa is positioned to navigate these uncertain times.

IP Group hosted a capital markets day on 26 June 2025, which included presentations on the group’s investment strategy, pipeline, major themes and portfolio companies.

Like any good gameshow host, President Trump continued to keep the world guessing this quarter with ‘liberation day’ the key event from a market perspective. Trump announced tariffs on countries around the world, both allies and foes, based on a formula that can be distilled to their balance of trade for goods with the US. Using this overly simplistic view of trade, the Trump administration proposed a range of ‘reciprocal tariffs’ for countries around the world with a minimum global tariff of 10%. Markets unsurprisingly reacted negatively to this announcement with sharp declines seen in all major markets.

Sometimes it is worth taking a step back. That way, it is possible to gain perspectives that are not necessarily clear when you are down in the weeds. But the process of stepping back does not always lead to the same viewpoint. This thematic piece takes some fairly basic questions about the role of advertising and the transformation of the advertising market and appraises them from different standpoints: the agency, the publisher, the platform and the brand. We have done this in the form of short video interviews with relevant individuals from some of the key quoted companies in the sector. As might be expected, there is plenty of commonality in responses, and the divergencies of opinion mostly reflect the perspectives, rather than anything more fundamental, but are interesting, nonetheless. As the landscape shifts further and faster, investors need to keep asking whether the ecosystem is fit for purpose and check in on what that purpose is.