Electric & General was formed on 12th August 2011
Electric & General was formed on 12th August 2011 following the winding up of its predecessor vehicle, Electric & General Investment Trust (‘EGIT’).
EGIT was originally formed in 1890 and was responsible for the flotation of many electric companies. Out of the various tramway and bus companies it originally floated on the stock market, it was the issuing house which formed the British Electric Traction group. This became the leading manufacturer and operator of electric railway tram systems in England during the early 20th century.
In the early 1920s, William Shearer, the Chairman of the British based construction and civil engineering company Balfour Beatty, acquired EGIT as an investment vehicle for his family funds. Then, in 1948 Henderson Administration Limited made an offer to purchase the shares of the company which was then recapitalised. The company grew and diversified into lucrative international equity investment. On 17 April 1997 the name of the company changed from Electric and General Investment Company plc to Henderson Electric and General Investment Trust plc.
On 10 September 2004, Taube Hodson Stonex Partners Limited (‘THS’) replaced Henderson Global Investors Limited as the company’s Investment Manager, and that November the name was changed to Electric & General Investment Trust plc. In 2008, investment management responsibility passed to Taube Hodson Stonex Partners LLP.
In November 2010 the Board announced that, following a review of available options to address the persistent discount to net asset value at which the company’s shares traded, it proposed to wind up the company and offer shareholders the opportunity to roll-over the investment into an open ended fund managed by THS or realizing their investment for cash.
The Board of the fund remains firmly committed to the virtues of a policy to invest in an international portfolio of companies, selected for their prospective above average capital growth. We believe that the long term interests of shareholders are best served through this medium, and we will endeavour to continue developing our fund in order to maintain the objective of growth through global stock selection.
On 1st July 2015, Troy Asset Management Limited replaced Taube Hodson Stonex Partners Limited (‘THS’) and investment management responsibility passed to Troy Asset Management Limited.
