OREANDA-NEWS. November 18, 2015. Aberdeen Private Equity Fund (APEF) provides access to a globally diversified portfolio of private equity funds and co-investments with a bias towards the US and technology. Recent changes to the manager's corporate structure have not specifically affected the fund, but have brought direct investment and Asian expertise in house. Share price performance ytd has been flat, while NAV gains have widened the discount. As the cycle matures there may be scope for it to narrow again, realisations may be the catalyst.

APEF's discount has grown in 2015 and is the widest in its peer group at 27.6%, near the upper end of its three-year range of 20-31%. With NAV total return ahead of peers in the 12 months to 30 January 2015 (the date of our last note) at 20.2% vs a 9.5% average, and matching the group so far in 2015 at 7%, it may be that the discount has widened because of corporate changes at the manager. There was a significant increase in the discount from 23.7% to 30.8% after the announcement that Aberdeen would buy SVG out of the joint venture in March 2015. That effect may be reversed as the market recognises the limited impact of the ending of the joint venture on the fund itself.


Click here to view the full report.

All reports published by Edison are available to download free of charge from its website www.edisoninvestmentresearch.com.