The FTSE 250 investment trust narrowed its discount sharply and announced sweeping changes to fees, manager relationships and capital returns
Pantheon International PLC (LSE:PIN, FRA:PAA0), the FTSE 250 private equity investment trust, said it entered 2026 with a constructive outlook as deal flow in private equity markets began to build after several challenging years.
Charlotte Morris, lead manager at Pantheon, said the asset class had demonstrated its resilience in 2025 and started to recover slowly, with the trust aiming to offer investors a diversified route into private equity opportunities worldwide.
The improving backdrop was reflected in the trust's distribution rate, which rose from 12% to 15% over the six months to the end of November 2025, while net portfolio cash flow surged 85% to £83.1 million compared with the same period a year earlier.
The trust's share price climbed 26.7% over the half year, outperforming both the MSCI World and FTSE All-Share indices and helping narrow the discount to net asset value from 40% to 28%.
NAV itself grew by a more modest 4.9%, driven by underlying valuation gains and favourable currency movements on the trust's largely dollar-denominated portfolio.
Alongside the results, Pantheon announced a series of strategic changes designed to improve performance and close the persistent discount further.
The trust will concentrate its investments around roughly 25 core private equity managers, a sharp reduction from approximately 90 relationships today.
A new fee arrangement with its manager, Pantheon, will, from June 2026, charge a flat 1% of NAV with no fee on undrawn commitments, a change the company said would have reduced management fees by 19%, or £5.3 million, had it applied in the last financial year.
PIN also established a £60 million distribution pool for share buybacks or other capital returns, which will grow by 20% of monthly gross distributions from the portfolio.
Tony Morgan, who became chair in January, said he was confident the changes being implemented would deliver greater value to shareholders over the medium term.
The trust acknowledged recent volatility in public market software companies driven by concerns about artificial intelligence, but said its technology exposure was concentrated in companies providing mission-critical business infrastructure.