Investec upgrades RIT Capital Partners to 'Hold' one year after 'uninvestable' claim

'Historic de-rating warrants a fresh look'

Investec has upgraded RIT Capital Partners from ‘Sell’ to ‘Hold’, more than a year after the broker deemed the £3.9bn investment trust of the Rothschild family “uninvestable”.

The firm downgraded RIT Capital Partners to ‘Sell' in March 2023 over concerns of late-stage VC investments pushing up its risk profile and a lack of transparency around its payments to senior employees amid lacklustre returns for investors. Sell-side analysts Alan Brierley and Ben Newell went as far as calling the trust "uninvestable" on cost grounds alone after its VC exposure resulted in a sharp increase in the KID cost.  However, in a research note today (10 April), they said the "brutal de-rating" of the trust, which has seen its discount collapse to nearly 30% despite buybacks, ...