Board of Aberdeen New Thai trust plans overhaul to boost performance

Fee reduction and new dividend

The board of the £95m Aberdeen New Thai Investment trust has announced a number of proposed changes it is putting forward in a bid to turn around the underperformance seen in recent years.

Over three years to 2 May the trust is up 33%, but the figure remains significantly behind the AIC Country Specialist: Asia Pacific average return of 58% and its benchmark the Thailand Stock Exchange's return of 50% over the same period, according to FE. In an effort to tackle this lag, the board has proposed a more proactive use of the trust's gearing capabilities and allowing limited investments in unlisted Thai companies. Other changes include increasing the trust's small-cap exposure, a greater cost allocation to capital, cutting fees and the payment of an interim dividend, which ...