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. These companies are likely to benefit from the digitalisation of economies, changing the way we work, live and play.

The Fund currently invests in 32 listed companies operating at the intersection of real estate and technology. These companies own physical assets that are vital to the functioning of the digital economy and are active in four specialist sub-sectors: logistics warehouses supporting e-commerce (50.2% portfolio weight), data centres (24.7% portfolio weight), mobile communication towers (20.0% portfolio weight), and networks (3.9% portfolio weight).

Over the course of the month, the NAV decreased by 0.6% (C Acc GBP). Since launch, NAV has increased by 3.0% (C Acc GBP). In comparison, the global real estate index has increased by 7.7%*. During August, logistics was the best performing sub-sector, up 2.9%** on the month. Data centres, cell towers and networks delivered negative returns, down -0.3%**, -4.2%** and -13.9%** respectively.

In August, US non-farm payrolls for July were released, which suggested the US labour market was slowing. Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, suggested the balance of economic risks had shifted based on this release, potentially warranting an adjustment to the Fed’s policy stance. As a result, markets are now expecting a reduction in interest rates of 25 basis points at the Fed’s September meeting. Later in the month, central bank independence came into the spotlight as the President attempted to fire Lisa Cook, one of seven members of the Fed’s Board of Governors.

Looking to Europe, the French prime minister called a vote of no confidence in his minority government, after he was unable to muster support for budget cuts. Parties forming a majority of seats in the French parliament have said they will vote against the government, which has led to volatility in French markets.

NEXTDC (portfolio weight 4.9%), delivered a positive performance in August on the back of strong full year results, highlighting several positive developments. These include the accelerated billing of their forward order book, as well as a new joint venture for NEXTDC’s first Japanese data centre. They were also positive about the prospects of another record year of contract wins in 2026, which they are expecting to drive up future billing. Craig Scroggie, CEO and Managing Director of NEXTDC, said of the results, “2025 exceeded net revenue guidance and set new contracting records. Our forward order book is greater than the entire billing footprint today, and with a strong liquidity position we are rapidly bringing capacity forward to turn contracted commitments into revenue and cash flow while scaling for extraordinary AI and cloud demand across Asia-Pacific.”

SBA Communications (portfolio weight 4.3%) delivered a good set of Q2 results and raised full year guidance. This was primarily due to an improving domestic environment for towers and favourable FX tailwinds that are benefitting international revenues. In addition, site leasing revenue was up by 0.9% year-on-year, and site development revenue increased by 97.5% year-on-year. Brendan Cavanagh, CEO and President of SBA Communications, said of the results, "As a result of our strong leasing results, steady leasing and services backlogs, early Millicom closing, and favourable foreign currency movements, we have meaningfully increased our full year outlook across all key financial metrics."

Later in the month the US cell tower names declined on the back of news that AT&T agreed to buy EchoStar's wireless spectrum licenses, effectively ending EchoStar's ambitions to become a national wireless carrier via its Boost Mobile brand. Although this consolidation is expected to lead to lower demand for cell tower sites in the future, EchoStar only accounts for a small fraction of revenues for SBA Communications, American Tower (portfolio weight 4.3%) and Crown Castle (portfolio weight 2.4%).

Overall, the Fund Manager maintains a positive outlook on the digital infrastructure sector, primarily due to the strong performance of underlying portfolio assets. As such, the digital infrastructure sector remains a key investment area for any investors seeking long-term returns.

*MSCI World IMI Core Real Estate IMI GBP

**Defined as the calendar month, as opposed to the valuation month.