Put yourself up for sale, activist investor tells private equity trust

Asset Value Investors, the activist-minded firm which runs both the AVI Global Trust Ord (LSE:AGT) and MIGO Opportunities Trust Ord (LSE:MIGO) portolios, has called on HarbourVest Global Priv Equity Ord (LSE:HVPE) to put itself up for sale in the face of a wide and persistent share price discount.

AVI, a firm known for its activist tendencies, published an open letter on Friday (23 January) arguing that the private equity trust, which boasts a market capitalisation of more than £2 billion, had several “interwoven” problems.

The letter pointed to weak net asset value (NAV) performance over any period of seven years or shorter and the deep discount at which shares trade to the NAV, but also criticised its “stretched balance sheet, inaccurate cashflow forecasts, and a lack of material asset sales”. HarbourVest had been approached for comment at the time of writing.

At the point of publication the trust had not responded publicly to AVI's letter, though AVI did note it had already had "a constructive dialogue with the Chairman and Harbourvest Advisers" beforehand.

AVI said the fund could cease from making new investments unless the discount averages less than 15% for a year, while focusing on asset sales. An alternative option would be to follow this path but with no new investments allowed under any conditions.

Another approach outlined by AVI was to run a formal sales process for the trust or for its portfolio.

The activist warned that it currently intended to vote against the continuation of the trust at a meeting in July 2026 if proposals like these were not progressed. AVI does have some clout here: its £75 million stake in the trust accounts for 3.3%, making it a top 10 shareholder.

HVPE features in the top 10 holding lists for both the AVI Global and MIGO Opportunities trusts.

Like many of its rivals, HarbourVest has responded to its wide and persistent discount by introduced several measures aimed at pleasing shareholders in recent years, from a continuation vote to a distribution pool for share buybacks.

The trust has also changed the way it will invest in future, switching from using funds to doing “co-investments” alongside other professional investors, and in December announced that it had agreed to the sale of five funds at a 6% discount, generating proceeds of $300 million. AVI has commended such measures but argued more needs to be done.

The trust’s shares trade on a roughly 25% discount to NAV. The shares themselves have performed relatively well versus those of rival private equity funds, generating 73.1% over the five years to 23 January 2026.