Chrysalis' Williamson on crossroads that led to new share issuance

£300m fundraise recently completed

Chrysalis investment trust successfully completed a £300m fundraise on 26 March, which, according to co-manager Nick Williamson, was the result of the company reaching an "inflection point".

"We hit a bit of a crossroads really," he explained. "For the first several quarters of our existence, our NAV [net asset value] growth was relatively modest. "It was growing, but we added a lot of companies and there is inherently a bit of cost drag as you add lots of assets and it takes a bit of time for the underlying performance of those assets to show through in valuation terms. "As the pace of new investment additions slowed, we began to see the benefits in terms of growth in NAV from the performance of the underlying assets and that cemented the proposition." Hipgnosis drops...