During the full year to 31st of May 2024, PIP's NAV grew by 6.1%. This is stated net of fees. There was positive performance across all stages of PIP's portfolio during the period, demonstrating the strength and resilience of the underlying companies. PIP's objective is to maximize capital growth over the long term. Over the past 10 years, PIP's average annualized NAV growth was 13.5%, outperforming the MSCI World and FTSE All-Share Indices over the same period. The discount on PIP's ordinary shares decreased from 41% at the beginning of the financial year to 34% as of the 31st of May 2024. In our view, the discount is still too wide, but reflects a sector-wide trend. Nevertheless, the discount on the shares offered a compelling investment opportunity, and during the period, PIP invested GBP 196.7 million in share buybacks, which added 4.7% to the NAV. Despite the macroeconomic and geopolitical turbulence that has affected markets, PIP's share price increased by 20% during the financial year. PIP's actively managed portfolio gives shareholders access to the breadth of the private equity universe and companies at different stages of growth. In particular, PIP emphasizes small and mid-market buyouts, as this part of the market offers more opportunities for value creation and several routes through which our managers can sell their portfolio companies. Over the past few years, we've focused on investing directly in private companies alongside our managers. These are complemented by invitation-only funds, which do not typically trade on the secondary market. As at the 31st of May 2024, approximately 54% of PIP's portfolio was invested directly in companies through its exposure to co-investments and single-asset secondaries. Increased exposure to direct company investments offers a number of benefits. We have more control over portfolio construction, and the investments go through our double-quality filter, as both the private equity manager and the company must pass our stringent due diligence process. The best private equity managers are alert to the opportunities that arise in difficult macroeconomic times and periods of uncertainty. In addition to investing in PIP shares, PIP has continued to invest in new opportunities sourced by Pantheon during the period. During the year to the 31st of May 2024, PIP committed GBP 152.5 million to 16 new investments. PIP's portfolio is tilted towards more resilient sectors, such as information technology and healthcare. These sectors are benefiting from long-term trends, such as automation and digitalization and aging demographics. While the promise of artificial intelligence, or AI, has been around for years, there's been a resurgence of interest due to better technology, the sheer volume of data, and the benefits and efficiencies that AI can bring. Many private equity managers, including us here at Pantheon, use AI tools. From an investment standpoint, private equity is actively targeting companies that provide products and services, enabling the adoption and implementation of large-scale AI strategies. We believe that the trends in our target sectors are here to stay, regardless of what is happening in the world. We focus on managers who are targeting non-cyclical companies for investment, that have defensible business models and offer a differentiated product or service. Also, as our managers are actively involved in the management of their portfolio companies, they're able to implement long-term growth plans and respond to changing market conditions. We can see the effects of these actions in PIP's portfolio. Overall, the companies in PIP's portfolio are profitable. The average earnings growth of PIP's buyout portfolio over the last five years is a robust 19%. This is well ahead of the average earnings growth rate seen in companies that constitute the MSCI World Index. Despite the challenging environment for M&A, our managers have still realized investments at a substantial uplift to their holding values. The weighted average uplift in the year to 31st of May 2024 was 20%, and since 2012, the weighted average uplift on exit is 30%. Finally, the low loss ratio of just 2.3% over the past 10 years provides further proof of the high-quality managers and companies that we are backing. As a result of the current macroeconomic environment, exits and distributions were subdued during the financial year. Despite this, the portfolio generated positive net cash flow of GBP 37 million during the period. In the last 10 years, PIP has generated GBP 1.6 billion of net cash. We regularly stress test PIP's balance sheet to make sure that it is able to withstand uncertainty while having the firepower to make new investments. PIP's financing cover as at 31 May 2024, was 3.9 times, and the undrawn coverage ratio was comfortable at 89%. PIP maintains a GBP 500 million multi-currency revolving credit facility and $150 million of private placement loan notes. At the end of May, PIP had GBP 83 million drawn down under the credit facility and GBP 118 million of loan notes outstanding. Taken in conjunction with PIP's net available cash of GBP 16 million, PIP's net debt to NAV is conservative at 8.1%. The Board does not currently expect net leverage to exceed 10% of NAV under normal market conditions. Although recent performance of the private equity industry has been impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment, the asset class has nevertheless demonstrated its resilience, continuing to outperform public markets over the medium and long term. The best private equity managers have still been able to fundraise, and private equity assets under management are expected to exceed $8.5 trillion by 2028. We're hopeful that we will start to see increased deal activity as more certainty returns to the inflation and interest rate environment. The opening of the IPO market should boost overall market confidence and support both private equity and strategic or trade buyer activity. Both we and our managers are unable to predict the timing of a resurgent M&A market, but there are very early signs that the tide may be starting to turn, which means that several of PIP's portfolio companies will be ready for sale as the outlook improves. PIP has been designed to provide shareholders with an all-weather, high-quality, low-risk portfolio. As we look back over PIP's more than 37 years of history and contemplate what may lie ahead, we remain highly confident in the company's prospects for the future. If you have any questions or would like more information on PIP, please visit the website, follow PIP on LinkedIn, or contact the team here at Pantheon.
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