PRESS RELEASE:
Dowgate Wealth, a leading bespoke UK investment management business, announces that it has agreed heads of terms with The Investment Company plc, for Dowgate Wealth’s appointment as portfolio manager. The appointment will see a team from Dowgate Wealth, led by Market Strategist and City veteran manager Jeremy McKeown, oversee a dynamic new proposed strategy which will include taking advantage of the growing opportunities in Bitcoin and precious metals.
Once appointed, Dowgate Wealth will look to reshape the portfolio of The Investment Company to meet a new investment objective and policy, which will seek to protect and grow the real purchasing power of shareholders’ capital over the long-term, through investing in a diversified portfolio of assets that possess inherent scarcity, enduring economic relevance and resilience to monetary debasement.
The proposed strategy endorses the manager’s belief that the traditional bond allocation in a 60-40 portfolio is now dead, having ceased to function effectively when underlying world conditions changed. The mandate proposed represents a new risk mitigation strategy for investing in a new era – a world of sovereign budgetary irresponsibility, geo-economic rivalry, resource nationalism, elevated inflation and fiscal dominance.
The team will seek to achieve this strategy through investing in a multi-asset portfolio across distinct scarcity-based pillars including foundational reserves (with long term holdings in monetary metals and bitcoin), strategic equity participations, consisting of a core concentrated portfolio of scarce equities, resistant to technological disruption, and inflation-protected instruments, which will serve as a cash alternative for the trust, whose purpose will be specifically designed to protect investors purchasing power.
As part of Dowgate’s proposed appointment, The Investment Company plc intends to raise new capital for the trust, with a capital raise due be undertaken by way of a placing, offer for subscription and/or through a matched bargain facility established in connection with the Tender Offer.
The proposals are subject to various approvals and conditions, including shareholder approval and certain regulatory approvals. For further information, the regulatory announcement made by The Investment Company plc can be read here.
Ben McKeown, Investment Director at Dowgate Wealth said:
“It is a privilege to propose a new future for The Investment Company plc, a cornerstone of the UK’s investment trust sector. Since 1868, the Company has navigated every major financial cycle; our objective is to ensure it thrives in the next one by modernising its strategic engine for a new era.
“At Dowgate Wealth, we have built a culture defined by entrepreneurialism and high-conviction, long-term thinking. This proposal is the logical evolution of our platform. Having successfully launched the fast-growing Onward Opportunities Ltd in 2023, one of the UK’s newest investment trusts while also managing the deep-value SVS Dowgate Cape Wrath Focus Fund, we are uniquely positioned to bridge tradition with modern agility. Our strategy will revitalise one of the market’s most historic vehicles, capitalising on the distinct structural opportunities emerging in today’s global economy.”
Jeremy McKeown, Market Strategist at Dowgate Wealth commented:
“The rules investors have relied on for decades are changing and traditional portfolios are under strain as fiscal pressure leads to currency debasement. We believe the solution lies in owning scarce assets that cannot be printed or indeed be disrupted by AI.
“By revitalising the mandate to focus on strategic equities that underpin the physical economy and ‘foundational reserves’ such as precious metals and Bitcoin you can balance the tangible security of physical assets with the high-growth potential of digital ones. This creates a resilient portfolio built to survive systemic shifts and protect long-term purchasing power. We believe we can restore The Investment Company’s status as a relevant, defensive cornerstone for investors’ portfolios.”
ENDS
For media enquiries please contact:
Charlie Barker/Nick Jackman – Dowgate@houston.co.uk
About Dowgate Wealth:
Dowgate Wealth is a fast-growing independent UK wealth management group, providing a bespoke and personalised investment service to over 3,000 clients as well as managing two funds – the award-winning AIM-listed Onward Opportunities Ltd and the deep-value driven SVS Dowgate Cape Wrath Focus Fund. Founded in 2019, the Group has expanded to a team of top-rated investment managers, with over £2 billion of assets under management.
Dowgate Wealth is proud that its employees have a stake in the company. This underpins the firm’s culture of entrepreneurialism and long-term thinking, which is further supported by taking an asset agnostic approach to investing with no central buy-lists.
About The Investment Company plc:
Founded in 1868, The Investment Company plc is one of the London Stock Exchange’s oldest Investment Trusts. As at 31.01.25 the trust reported a Net Asset Value of £7.48m. Its latest fact sheet, which includes its current investment objective and policy is here.
About Jeremy McKeown:
Jeremy joined Dowgate Wealth in November 2020. He has worked in the City for over four decades in both fund management and stockbroking. Originally from Bedford, Jeremy obtained a degree in business administration and economics from Georgia State University Atlanta. He is also a Fellow of the CISI and holds a Pearson FT Non-Executive Director Certificate, 2012.
Jeremy began his career at South Yorkshire Pension Authority in 1982. After further positions at Abbey Life and British Gas Pension Fund, and a spell at Midland Bank Group Treasury he became a stockbroker at Charterhouse Securities where he stayed for 13 years. He ultimately moved to Investec where he headed the number 1 rated smaller Companies sales team.
