For cautious long term savers

A contact of ETS writes: "Some time ago, I was recommended (Schroder British Opportunity) SBO on the basis that it was 50% private equity (PE) and 50% small companies. The informant's idea was that Schroders would use it to show off their expertise. Unfortunately, timing was awful just before the collapse in the small company sector. Management then decided that it should be converted to pure PE. I wrote and objected and got a very bland response which ignored all the points that I made. (It was much too small for the PE sector and small caps were probably cheap). However, as part of the change, there is going to be a continuation vote in 2027. It is my understanding that even if only one vote was against continuation, the company will be wound up. So I think the company will be wound up. The current price is 70p and NAV is 110.9p, so there is possibly 60% upside. Some of the PE holdings are a few years old, so these might be sold quickly and at a premium to book values. Thus the upside should be more than 60%. The downside is, of course, that it might take time to fully liquidate. The other upside is that if put into liquidation the discount could narrow. A 20% discount would give good upside on a year's view."