Management fees

An interesting article in this weekend's FirstLinks newsletter  about why some LICs have closed and more should follow.
The article cites Sandon as a persistent under performer:

"Here are some funds which have (based on the Bell Potter numbers for 1 September 2023):​

• A current large discount
• A five-year large average discount
• A range of high to low discounts over five years which are all negative

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The boards and management of these LICs need to justify to their investors why they believe in a future turnaround in the discount despite little evidence for at least five years. There are many more in a similar position. It’s not that the managers have weak governance, little marketing or even poor reputations, but how are they balancing their own desire for fees against the ability of investors to realise full value?​

A small manager such as NAOS or Sandon needs the funds to run their business".​

Having bought into the IPO some years ago, I am down by a third on the value of my investment and now feel that the only way to get a decent recovery of most of that would be for the fund to close and return capital to shareholders.​