Hansa Investment Company

10/07/2026

Results analysis from Kepler Trust Intelligence

Hansa Investment Company (Hansa) has released its annual results for the year ending 31/03/2026. During the period, the company had a NAV total return of 29.4% which compares to returns of 11.1% for the 60:40 balanced portfolio, one of the company's KPIs. The two share classes rose by 14.5% (ordinary shares) and 23.5% (A shares) over the year.

There was considerable news flow during the year including the sale of Wilson Sons and combination with Ocean Wilsons. This contributed to the NAV uplift in the year, as well as resulting in a much simpler multi-asset offering, with a portfolio consisting of four sleeves: country and thematic funds, direct global equities, private assets and diversifying assets. Value-oriented funds also contributed as the investment style continued its renaissance, with the Japanese, emerging and frontier markets holdings also performing well. The direct global equities sleeve rose 32% in aggregate, whilst diversifying funds delivered positively in absolute terms.

One outcome of the combination was an increase in cash. Manager Alec Letchfield has allocated this progressively throughout the wider portfolio, including during the periods of volatility. This was also invested into private assets, which is now 9% of total assets, with a goal of c. 20%. Part of the cash has been used for share buybacks, achieving the goal of between 2% and 4% each year.

Discounts widened to 46.0% and 46.2% for the ordinary and A shares respectively as strong NAV performance was not matched by the share price. These have narrowed post period end.

The company was promoted to the FTSE 250 Index in June 2026 which has the potential to increase the potential investor base as well as attract passive money. Additionally, the board has announced an interim dividend of 2p per share.

Chairman Jonathan Davie noted the significance of the corporate activity, stating it "has created value for all shareholders" as well as providing "increased confidence and clarity". With this in mind, he called the past year "one of the most important for the company since its creation".

Kepler View

Whilst these results only cover one year in Hansa's storied history, they are arguably some of the most significant, with the corporate activity that has completed creating a considerably more straightforward investment proposition for investors, as a diversified, multi-asset portfolio with the goal of generating long-term capital growth.

We think this profile should appeal to a wide range of investors as a "one-stop shop" solution, with the wide discount looking particularly attractive, having emerged as the NAV has jumped, demonstrating investors have arguably been slow to react to the positive changes.

On a technical level, the current elevated cash levels make the effective discount even wider. Alec is allocating some of this towards private assets which could prove very astute timing wise due to the volatility present in private assets in recent years and provide considerable long-term gains for Hansa.

One potential catalyst for the discount to narrow could be the recent promotion to the FTSE 250 Index which has historically shown to be a positive contributor. Furthermore, with discounts narrowing across the investment trust sector, Hansa's current rating looks particularly anomalous in our view, meaning both the near- and longer-term investment cases look compelling.

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