IFSL RC Brown UK Primary Opportunities | Fund Update | November 2025
November: A month of two halves
It was broadly a month of two halves as the sell off early in the month over the length of the US government shutdown and concerns over an AI technology bubble made way for a recovery which saw an end to the longest shutdown in US history. A strong earnings season and rising expectations of a December interest rate cut in both the UK and US also helped fuel the market. The heavily anticipated, but also heavily leaked, budget from Chancellor Rachel Reeves, contained few surprises and the market reaction was largely sanguine and sterling stabilised, as tax rises provided this government with greater fiscal headroom. Our biggest concern is that many of the tax rises are back end loaded compared with the increased welfare spending, which is front ended loaded, hence increasing the possibility of this government not meeting its forecasts were economic growth expectations to be lowered.
Global equities have re-rated over the past two years, with AI, defence, gold and the banking sector proving particularly strong. There has been limited earnings growth outside the US, and as we start to turn our thoughts to 2026, we believe a pick-up in earnings is required if stock markets are to continue their rise. Europe and the UK does have the benefit of relatively modest valuations. The same cannot be said of the US, whose market leadership proves ever narrower –the ten largest companies in the S&P 500 represent over 40% of the index. Passive asset allocators are not getting significant diversification. 2026 could well be the year that active investment managers start a cycle of outperformance.
We commend the Chancellor for the introduction of a stamp duty holiday for the first three years after a company IPOs. We hope this is the first stage of a review into stamp duty on shares. The UK has the highest stamp duty on shares in the G7. It is therefore an obstacle to investors purchasing UK listed shares and we urge the government to abolish this tax. Whilst the loss of £3bn a year in revenue may be of concern, stamp duty takings have not increased over the past decade*, despite materially higher stock markets. We believe its abolition would help drive a market re-rating which would increase capital gains tax and encourage more companies to list in London which creates jobs in the financial ecosystem.
We commented last month on the re-opening of the London IPO market – notably Shawbrook, Princes Group and The Beauty Technology Group. The latter has already upgraded its market forecasts in an unscheduled trading update, which augurs well as it heads into the crucial Christmas period. Shawbrook is trading at a double-digit premium to its listing price, whilst Princes Group, is a smidgen below its listing price. This month we added a further IPO to the portfolio, small cap Winvia Entertainment was added at IPO and SSE was also added following a substantial equity raise.
In November the IFSL RC Brown UK Primary Opportunities fund returned 0.5% compared with 0.4% for the FTSE All Share and -0.7% for the IA UK All Companies sector, all on a total return basis.
Purchases
Winvia Entertainment is a technology led entertainment company that runs prize draws in the UK through its ‘Best of the Best’ brand. It also operates a fast growing regulated online gaming company in Romania. We believe the company is well placed to acquire new businesses with the money raised at IPO and we anticipate a highly cash generative business with an attractive and growing dividend.
SSE is a UK utility company that generates and sells electricity from its mix of renewable and gas fired plants. We acquired the shares at a discount as part of a £2bn equity fund raise to help fund its five-year investment programme principally aimed at upgrading its electricity network.
Sales
Our modest remaining shareholding in Rightmove was sold following a disappointing update which saw its shares punished. We used the periods of market strength in the month to take some profits in holdings that had performed strongly – Prudential, M&G, BP, Vodafone, National Grid and MHA. The cash level of the Fund sits a little over 5% which allows us to take advantage of any new primary opportunities that may come across our desk at short notice.
*Source: The Sunday Times 30/11/2025
Cumulative Performance (Total Return %) – To 30 November 2025
| Fund/Benchmark Name | 3M | 6M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y | Since Inception (28/05/1997) |
| IFSL RC Brown UK Primary Opportunities P Acc | 4.5 | 8.9 | 16.1 | 29.8 | 39.9 | 93.1 | 593.3 |
| Quartile Ranking IA UK All Companies | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| IA UK All Companies | 3.7 | 7.1 | 12.2 | 30.3 | 46.9 | 80.5 | 415.5 |
| FTSE All Share | 6.0 | 11.8 | 20.0 | 41.3 | 76.8 | 115.9 | 513.4 |
Source: FE: 30/11/2025
Discrete Annual Performance (Total Return%) – To 30 November 2025
| Fund/Benchmark Name | Year to 30/11/2025 | Year to 30/11/2024 | Year to 30/11/2023 | Year to 30/11/2022 | Year to 30/11/2021 |
| IFSL RC Brown UK Primary Opportunities P Acc | 16.1 | 13.2 | -1.3 | -12.2 | 22.7 |
| Quartile Ranking IA UK All Companies | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| IA UK All Companies | 12.2 | 15.3 | 0.7 | -3.9 | 17.2 |
| FTSE All Share | 20.0 | 15.8 | 1.8 | 6.5 | 17.4 |
Source: FE: 30/11/2025
Please be advised that the past is not necessarily a guide to future performance. Investments and the income derived from them can fall as well as rise and the investor may not get back the amount originally invested.
