Neil Rogan

Four-fifths of Perpetual Income & Growth Investment Trust plc (PLI) shares have been rolled over into the MUT, while the remaining fifth have taken the cash exit option.

Following the issue of its new shares, MUT’s share capital will consist of 117,046,587 ordinary shares (excluding treasury shares) with each ordinary share holding one voting right.

The PLI rollover portfolio was realigned to the MUT portfolio prior to merger, with only 10 stocks from the original PLI portfolio retained: BP, Chesnara, Countryside Properties, National Grid, Novo Nordisk, Rio Tinto, Roche, SSE, Standard Chartered and Total. All of these were already held in the Murray Income Trust portfolio.

Former MUT shareholders will immediately benefit from the enlarged capital base which will result in a reduction of the average management fee from 0.50% to 0.38%.

Similarly, the ongoing charges ratio will fall from 0.64% to 0.50%. The increased size of the company should lead to enhanced liquidity in the secondary market and will qualify MUT for inclusion in the FTSE 250 Index.

Former PLI shareholders will benefit from an investment manager with a good track record as well as all of the above.

Neil Rogan, chairman of Murray Income Trust plc, said: “I would like to thank both sets of shareholders for their strong support and to welcome all our new shareholders. Murray Income’s track record continues to benefit from the philosophy, process and performance of Charles Luke and his team at Aberdeen Standard Investments.

“Their focus on quality, which contains a strong ESG element, has helped extend the record of outperformance this year with NAV outperforming the FTSE All Share Index by 7% so far in 2020. We have grown our dividend for 47 years in a row, qualifying for Dividend Hero status that we intend to retain.”