Last Thursday, after 24 years, 10 months, two weeks, three days and 23.5 hours I said goodbye to Citywire. That means, regretfully, I must say the same to you.
Walking out of the London West End night club where our Christmas party became my leaving do, I recalled the high spirits in the air when I joined the recently launched Citywire at the peak of the dotcom bubble.
Dodging the revellers on Carnaby Street, I reflected that in January 2000 instead of AI and crypto it had been loss-making internet startups that were discussed in pubs. For the superstitious that month’s lunar eclipse was another sign of the impending market crash.
Back then, I was the 35 year-old father of a toddler whose sister would burst into the world later that year. I didn’t feel remotely middle aged, but now, 58, I felt well advanced in that category, though pleased I had just joined in with some ‘dad’ dancing!
Breathing the cold, night air, I was relieved I’d kept the lump in my throat at bay during a touching presentation by my boss Lawrence Lever and colleagues Michelle McGagh and Daniel Grote. Their tributes included entertaining clips from my ‘Lolly’ and ‘Gavatar’ videos but fortunately excluded my infamous and now lost ‘Fiver a day’ rap.
I joked that my LinkedIn post announcing my departure from Citywire had been one of the biggest stories of my career. Over 7,000 impressions, 376 emojis and 185 comments, I boasted.
In terms of initial traffic, that wouldn’t be far behind the blog on Arch Cru I wrote in April 2008 eleven months before its funds were suspended. Or my immediate response to the earth-shattering suspension of Neil Woodford’s equity income fund in June 2019.
Proud legacy
The level of goodwill pouring may way astounded my wife. A documentary lecturer on track for her quarter century’s service next year, she reckoned on only getting 10 comments when she retires. I’m sure the army of grateful ex-students will boost her numbers far higher.
When I described the social media fanfare to my father, a retired pianist, teacher and care home manager, he surprised me saying: ‘Your mother would have been proud.’ That’s always a strong compliment, but on this occasion a truly stirring thought as, sadly, she died aged 32 when I was five.
Her name is Annon Lee Silver. She was a Canadian soprano who toured with Glyndebourne Festival Opera, performed at the Proms and worked at Oper Frankfurt. Critics praised the clarity and bell-like quality of her coloratura singing.
I’m of course immensely proud of her. Compared to my mother’s achievements, my own deeds seem modest, although after the heartwarming responses I received I happily acknowledge that I have left something of value behind through the people I have met and the talented journalists I’ve worked with.
As for Citywire’s legacy to me, I told my colleagues I still thought of the company as a place of young, helpful and dynamic people, which bodes well for its future.
Investment stars
What I didn’t tell my colleagues, was how much I enjoyed my job, particularly in the past decade covering investment companies. The wide-ranging £271bn closed-end funds sector is a brilliant one to report on. Up to 400 London-listed funds generate a huge amount of news through stock exchange announcements that reflect their corporate developments but also events in world markets and economies.
A separate ecosystem of brokers, analysts, lawyers and PR firms is underpinned by a backbone of private investors who entrust their savings to these portfolios and provide a committed audience for this website.
Many of my personal highlights revolve around interviews with long-standing fund managers. Peter Spiller came on to my Funds Fanatic podcast twice, the second time in May 2022 to mark his 40th anniversary as manager of Capital Gearing Trust (CGT) and to explain why he was looking forward to another ‘Volcker moment’ and a reason to pile back into equities.
Also memorable in 2016 was my 25th anniversary interview with City of London (CTY) manager Job Curtis for which I read all the annual report commentaries he helpfully provided.
Two years later I summoned courage for a video interview with former Scottish Mortgage (SMT) manager James Anderson and was grateful there was no bite despite his reputed bark.
I had the privilege of several on-camera interviews with Nick Train in the first of which I bridled at the Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT) manager referring to me as a ‘young man’!
Max Ward, manager of the then Independent investment trust, was another delight talking about his wish to live longer than his dad.
More recently, it was a pleasure to meet Chris Mills and witness the veteran smaller company investor race through the investment cases for a myriad special situations.
An introductory meeting with Katie Potts of Herald (HRI) was also important, although I regret I didn’t go on to do a proper interview with the global technology investor and longest active female fund manager.
This ‘siege’ won’t last
Perhaps I will never get another chance to do that as Herald is one of seven trusts fighting for survival against Saba Capital. Writing before the activist launched its attack, Moira O’Neill of the Financial Times correctly described the 156-year-old investment trust sector as ‘under siege’. Shareholder discontent is rising at the widespread share price underperformance caused by a toxic mix of difficult markets, regulatory obstacles and shifts in investors’ asset allocation.
However, I’m an optimist who thinks the sector is suffering a serious cyclical decline, but one from which it should recover. As I told Jonathan Davis on the Money Makers podcast, investment companies bounced back from the collapse of split capital investment trusts after the dotcom crash.
Nothing and no one lasts forever, but I believe that so long as a London Stock Exchange exists and there are investors saving for the future, then listed, closed-end funds will exist in some shape.
I certainly hope so because, while I am taking a break and have not got anything lined up, I aim to return to the sector in some capacity. In the meantime I leave you in the expert care of Jeremy Gordon, who succeeds me as editor.
I will continue to post @FundFanatic on X if you wish to follow me. Thank you for your attention and happy investing!
