Whilst they do a lot of good things (high conviction, responsive, regular communication, investments provide a point of difference compared to just buying the index, active involvement in investments, microcap exposure, etc) it isn't converting into performance. The majority, if not all, of the shareholder returns relate to dividends while the share prices remain stagnant. Maybe we are being too harsh as their investment style and the companies they invest in require a longer term view, but NCC has been around long enough and is no prettier.
The individual sizes of the three LICs are perhaps too small and for that reason scare off the retiree market (those who are brave enough to diversify out of large caps anyway) who tend to gravitate towards LICs. The size, I believe, also causes a scale issue and leads them all to take such large illiquid stakes in companies that poses a downside risk in that their positions are hard to exit without taking a hit.
The market caps that each LIC invests into aren't that different, so I agree one combined NAOS LIC would be better and more investable.
NSC Price at posting:
68.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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