AVI Global Trust
British investment trust
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AVI Global Trust is a London-based British investment trust. The company is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[2] The chairman is Graham Kitchen.[3]
British Empire Land Mortgage and Loan Company (1906–1964)
British Empire Securities and General Trust Limited (1964–2015)
British Empire Trust (2015–2019)
| |
| Formerly | Transvaal Mortgage Loan and Finance Company (1889–1906) British Empire Land Mortgage and Loan Company (1906–1964) British Empire Securities and General Trust Limited (1964–2015) British Empire Trust (2015–2019) |
|---|---|
| Type | Public company |
| Industry | Investment Management |
| Founded | 6 February 1889 in London, UK |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Graham Kitchen (Chairman) Joe Bauernfreund (Investment Manager) |
| AUM |  GBP £1.3 Billion (December 2025)[1] |
| Website | Official website |
History
The company was established in 1889 as the Transvaal Mortgage Loan and Finance Company,[4] led by chairman W.J. Thompson,[5] and invested in what is now South Africa.[4]
It was renamed the British Empire Land Mortgage and Loan Company in 1906, and British Empire Securities and General Trust in 1964.[6]
Asset Value Investors (AVI), an employee-owned management company, was established to manage the firm, then valued at £6 million, in 1985.[7][8]
The company's goal of acquiring other companies trading below their Net Asset Value led it to attempt takeovers of other investment trusts trading at a discount.[4] In 1986, the company acquired Ashdown Investment Trust for £66 million.[9] In 1989, it mounted a hostile takeover bid for Schroder Global Trust: it had been building up a stake in the target company over a two-year period.[10] In 1995, it acquired the Selective Assets Trust (formerly the Edinburgh Assets Trust)[11] for £42 million.[9]
It simplified its name from British Empire Securities and General Trust to British Empire Trust in 2015.[6]
In 2016, the activist US hedge fund, Elliott Management Corporation, built up a large stake in the company.[12][13][14][15] The investment was seen as one of Elliott's successful investment positions in the UK.[16]
It changed its name from British Empire Trust to AVI Global Trust in May 2019.[17][18]
Between 2019 and 2020, the company invested heavily in SoftBank Group and other Japanese stocks.[19] The company's strategy has been to take advantage of Softbank's share buyback programme.[20][21] This has supported the company's market capitalisation on the London Stock Exchange which was £751 million in July 2020.[22] It has also built up a significant holding in Pershing Square Holdings, a hedge fund.[23]
In August 2026, the trust's investment manager, Asset Value Investors, agreed to be sold to Pacific Asset Management, part of the Australian group Pinnacle Investment Management, subject to regulatory approval.[24] The trust said its investment objective, policy and management team would be unchanged.[25]
ESG Investing
AVI became a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in April 2021.[26]