Our second purchase today is Impax Asset Management, whose shares have halved in the past year and lost 63 percent since a peak in December.
Impax, which manages the investment trust Impax Environmental Markets, a choice of Questor, sets itself apart from other asset managers as a pioneer of ethical investing, which it focused on long before it became fashionable.
“AUM has risen from zero to £34.5 billion,” says Boxall. “It has a great reputation and is very efficient – the amount of money managed per person is much higher than competing companies.”
It has received long-term support from BNP Paribas, the French bank, which has a 13.8 percent stake, and it manages on behalf of its funds. Ian Simm, the founder and chief executive, owns 7.2 pc of the shares, reassuring this column that the company will be managed in a prudent manner, with a long-term focus.
“In a sale, investment managers are always the focus,” Boxall adds. This is because a market decline reduces the amount of money they manage which in turn affects their earnings as they are a percentage of the amount managed.
“The stock still trades at a premium to rival fund managers, but I’d say it’s a better business. It’s a good performer in its niche,” he says.
The fall in the share price has pushed yields up to 3.7 pc, so Impax has, rather unexpectedly, become almost a yield share.
The third company we will be adding to our inheritance tax portfolio today is Inspecs, the eyewear specialist. Questor tipped it for the wider readership two years ago, but then sold it in March to make a 72 percent profit. However, the stock has fallen 30 percent since then, so it’s worth another look.
Robin Totterman, the chief executive, has done just that: he has spent £200,000 on shares in the company in the past two weeks and he and those associated with him now own 18.4 per cent of the company.
It is also reassuring to see Lord MacLaurin, the former chairman of Tesco, on the board. Boxall says, “We only know one listed competitor, an Italian company, in the lens market.”
Questor says: buy
Tickers: BREE, IPX, SPEC
Stock prices at close: 64.4p, 550p, 234p
Updates: Jet2, Gamma Communications
These two existing holdings in our IHT portfolio have not escaped the pain of the junior market: shares of Jet2, the airline, fell 27.1 percent last year and Gamma Communications 46.9 percent. However, both remain in the black relative to our purchase prices.
Boxall says Jet2 “has outperformed others – its customers like it and it’s huge money”, while Gamma Communications is “a fantastic company trading on 15 times reliable revenue and net cash”. Both are holders.
Questor says: wait
Tickers: JET2, GAMA
Share prices at close: 823.2p, £10.78
Read the last Questor column telegraaf.co.uk every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5am.
Read Questor’s rules of investments before following our tips.