The strategy of the Fund is to invest in a globally diversified portfolio of best-in-class, next generation real estate and infrastructure companies that are listed in developed markets, with exposure to both equity and debt investments. These companies are likely to benefit from the digitalisation of economies, changing the way we work, live and play.

The Fund invests across a range of specialist digital infrastructure companies and is currently comprised of 31 investments (25 equity investments and 6 debt investments). As at 30 June, exposure is diversified across logistics (45.6% of the portfolio), towers (29.1%) and data centres (24.1%). The Fund may also invest in network infrastructure, although it had no exposure to this sub-sector at the period end. Overall, equity investments represented 83.0% of the portfolio and debt investments 15.8%.

Over the course of the month, the NAV of the Fund decreased by 0.5% (C Acc GBP), compared to the global real estate index¹ which increased by 2.5%. Since launch, the NAV has increased by 10.6% (C Acc GBP), compared to a rise of 21.4% for the index¹.

In the six months to 30 June 2026, the NAV of the Fund increased by 8.9% (C Acc GBP). This compares to a total return of 11.4% for the index¹. During the period, the top performing sub sector was data centres (22.1%). The logistics, debt and towers sub-sectors also delivered positive returns (6.6%, 1.2%, 0.6% respectively). The networks sub-sector delivered negative returns (-2.3%). The Fund’s debt investments, introduced during the final month of the period, returned 1.2% from acquisition to the period end. Over the period, the Fund declared two distributions totalling 1.1729p (0.5266p and 0.6463p, C Inc GBP). In aggregate, the trailing 12-month distributions represent a yield of 2.7%.

Looking back over the first half of the year:

In January, data centres performed strongly on the back of positive results, with Keppel DC REIT (portfolio weight 3.0%) announcing a 55% rise in distributable income, leading to a 10% increase in distribution per unit. The strong financial performance was driven by £1.1bn of accretive acquisitions.

In February, Equinix (portfolio weight 8.4%), an operator of almost 300 data centres around the world, reported a strong set of results for 2025, with adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) and dividend per share up 10%. The market responded positively, particularly because Equinix provided better guidance for 2026 than expected.

In March, returns for the mobile communication towers sub-sector were dragged down by INWIT (portfolio weight 2.2%), an Italian tower operator, which fell by 24%. The decline was caused by news that INWIT’s two largest customers, Fastweb + Vodafone and TIM, were considering leaving INWIT’s tower network. Separately, Helios Towers (portfolio weight 4.0%), an operator of almost 15,000 towers across Africa and the Middle East, reported an excellent set of results for 2025, with recurring free cash flow increasing by more than 40%.

In April, NEXTDC (portfolio weight 3.1%) an Australian data centre developer, performed well after announcing a 250MW contract win for a new data centre in Sydney. This came four months after NEXTDC received planning permission for the site. The pre-let increased the company’s contracted utilisation by 60%, along with an increase in pro-forma contracted EBITDA to more than AUD $1bn. To help fund this development, NEXTDC raised AUD $1.5bn via a rights issue, which the Fund participated in. The raise was priced at a 10% discount to the undisturbed share price and increased NEXTDC’s share count by almost 20%. The stock ended the month 28% higher.

In May, the Fund Manager introduced corporate bonds to the Fund. The purpose was to increase the yield of the Fund and to reduce volatility, without diluting exposure to the companies which own physical assets vital to the digital economy. As part of this update to the Fund’s strategy, Albane Poulin joined the team as Fixed Income Fund Manager. With the addition of bonds, the philosophy of the Fund remains the same. Bonds represent an enhancement of the Fund’s toolkit, enabling the Manager to express the same fundamental views on the digital economy across different parts of the capital structure.

In June, M&A activity picked up, with Prologis (portfolio weight 8.1%), one of the largest REITs in the world, making an unsolicited all-share offer for SEGRO (portfolio weight 5.0%), the largest REIT in the UK. The offer was equivalent to SEGRO’s latest NAV (925p), representing a 25% premium to SEGRO’s undisturbed share price. SEGRO’s Board “unanimously and unequivocally” rejected the “opportunistically timed” offer, which “falls a long way short of SEGRO's own views on value”. A week after the initial announcement, Prologis published a presentation to further explain the strategic rationale of the deal for both sets of shareholders.

The positive fund performance in the first six months of the year is indicative of the strength of the digital infrastructure sector. As such, the Fund Manager maintains a positive outlook on the digital infrastructure sector, which remains a key investment area for any investors seeking long-term returns.

¹MSCI World IMI Core Real Estate IMI GBP