Investment trusts, argued in detail.
Money Makers follows investment trusts through the week’s market conditions, with Jonathan Davis steering detailed conversations with managers, chairmen, and specialist commentators. Recent episodes connect Iran war volatility, oil shocks, tariffs, discounts, small caps, Japan activism, energy storage, and emerging markets to practical portfolio questions.
PRESS PLAY
Money Makers is a specialist show for investors who want the investment trust market treated with patience and precision. It is led by Jonathan Davis, who identifies himself in the episodes as founder and host. The show’s natural rhythm begins with the macro picture. War, tariffs, oil prices, inflation, interest rates, and market drawdowns are not left as headlines; they become the starting point for questions about discounts, NAVs, capital allocation, and trust board decisions. The format is interview-driven, with guests given enough time to develop a full investment case or explain why certainty is hard to justify. That suits the subject. Investment trusts are often shaped by structure as much as by asset class, and Money Makers repeatedly returns to those structural details. Recent conversations have looked at UK small caps, Asian allocation, China exposure, emerging markets, energy resources, energy storage, Japanese activism, and trust consolidation. The vocabulary can be technical, but the show usually slows down for the logic behind the terminology. A discussion of batteries becomes a discussion of revenue recovery, capacity growth, NAV confidence, and underused assets. A conversation about Japan becomes one about corporate governance reform, shareholder pressure, and activist exits. A market update becomes a practical debate about gilts, money market funds, diversification, and the danger of overcommitting to one view in a volatile period. The show also has a strong sense of the investment trust ecosystem itself. Chairmen, fund managers, and newsletter editors are treated as people inside a living market, where mandates change, trusts merge, discounts widen, and boards face pressure. The tone is serious but not bloodless. It can be dry, candid, and lightly conversational, especially when the guest pushes back or adds a caveat. Money Makers is not a tipsheet, and it says so repeatedly. Its value lies in watching experienced market participants reason through uncertainty in real time, with enough detail for listeners who already care about the sector to test the argument for themselves.
Made for: For investors and market watchers who already have some comfort with funds, discounts, NAVs, and portfolio construction. It best suits listeners who prefer careful reasoning over quick recommendations.
What sets it apart: Money Makers stays unusually close to the mechanics of the investment trust sector, combining current market context with detailed conversations about specific trusts, boards, mandates, and valuation gaps. It is editorially serious while remaining conversational and practical.
Home of the free Money Makers Investment Trust Podcast with Jonathan Davis, covering the latest developments in investment trusts. Subscribe now on your favourite podcast app to make sure you catch every edition! Keep up-to-date with Money Makers via Twitter - @MoneyMakersITs - and visit the website for more details, including our premium service, the Money Makers Circle: www.money-makers.co.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Jonathan Davis makes investment trusts legible by testing managers and board figures on valuation, governance, portfolio choices and shareholder outcomes.
Money Makers turns the mechanics of investment trusts into pointed conversations about prices, portfolios and stewardship. Jonathan Davis pairs market commentary with interviews that press fund managers and board figures on performance, strategy and the decisions behind the…
A trust trades far below NAV; Jonathan Davis asks what is driving the gap before you get excited.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
An anniversary review moves from market upheaval to a measured case for international value inside a UK small-cap trust.
Moneymakers marks its sixth anniversary by looking back at an investment trust sector buffeted by COVID, the Ukraine war, inflation, and uncertainty around the Iran war and ceasefire.
A measured sixth-anniversary discussion linking Iran-war market swings with America, Asia, China, and AI.
Moneymakers uses its sixth anniversary to return to a question investment-trust investors cannot easily avoid: how to steer portfolios through another yo-yo week, with Donald Trump's Iran war unsettling markets.
A measured investment-trust discussion on defensive positioning, widening discounts and emerging-market opportunity.
Market turmoil gives this Money Makers episode a useful shape, as Peter Hewitt considers portfolios after war in Iran has pushed oil higher, equities lower and bond yields upward.
A candid look at how pressure on Japanese companies can turn stubborn holdings into profitable activist exits.
Japanese shareholder activism can deliver profitable exits, and Paul Foulkes-Davis gives a clear account of why he remains bullish. Nippon Active Value's growth since its 2020 listing sets the scene, but the stronger material examines the government's role as a major shareholder…
A clear, grounded review of battery storage growth, weaker unit revenues, and the discount still troubling investors.
This single-episode review gives a crisp reading of the investment case around Gresham House Energy Storage Fund, with the fund's wide discount to NAV set against a volatile share-price record since its November 2018 listing.
A measured, practical look at cost disclosure, investment trust discounts, and what reform can realistically change.
This Moneymakers Investment Trust podcast starts with the Treasury's statutory instrument on cost disclosure, then opens out into a sober discussion of investment trust discounts.
A practical account of manager succession, shareholder value and the boardroom work behind Edinburgh Investment Trust.
Edinburgh Investment Trust's governance gets a clear, practical airing as chair Elizabeth Steyman discusses manager succession and the move from Majedi to Liontrust.
BBC's daily business show, from toy-industry founders to Anthropic's Pentagon standoff.
Jonathan Davis hosts Ben Conway and Nick Greenwood to discuss a major regulatory breakthrough for investment trusts.
Jonathan Davis interviews Elizabeth Stheeman, chair of Edinburgh Investment Trust, about her journey from a non-investment background to leading a £1 billion trust.
Jonathan Davis interviews investment trust chairman Neil Rogan about the ongoing consolidation trend in the investment trust sector, including mergers, wind-downs, and buybacks.
Jonathan Davis interviews Jonathan Simpson-Dent about the ongoing Sava Capital activist campaign against seven investment trusts, discussing recent shareholder votes and the upcoming Edinburgh Worldwide meeting.
Jonathan Davis interviews Richard Staveley, manager of Rockwood Strategic, about the trust's recent performance and the impact of US tariffs on UK small-cap stocks.
Jonathan Davis interviews Max King about the impact of Trump's policies on investment trusts and global markets.
Jonathan Davis interviews Jasmine Yeo and Charlie Morris about navigating volatile markets amid the Iran war and discusses investment trusts, absolute return strategies, and gold/Bitcoin.
On Money Makers episode 355, Peter Hewitt says emerging-market trust returns have been driven by three chipmakers that make up nearly 40% of the index.
Markets frame the conversation.
Money Makers episode 326 has Jonathan Davis marking the podcast's sixth anniversary while talking through the Iran war, a volatile week for investment trusts, and a later conversation with Charlie Morris of ByTree Research.
Jonathan Davis opens the 28 March 2026 Moneymakers Investment Trust podcast with Peter Hewitt, former manager of CT Global Managed Portfolio, against a backdrop of war in Iran, higher oil prices, and weaker equities and bonds.
Jonathan Davis interviews Tom Hull and Adrian Brown about the impact of the Middle East war on energy and commodity markets and how to navigate portfolios.
Jonathan Davis and Andrew McHattie discuss the impact of the Iran war and oil shock on investment trusts and markets.
Jonathan Davis interviews Paul Foulkes-Davis, chairman of the management company behind Nippon Active Value Fund (NAVF), a Japanese activist investment trust listed since 2020 that has grown from approximately 100 million to a market cap of around 478 million pounds.
Jonathan Davis interviews Ben Guest, lead manager of the Gresham House Energy Storage Fund (GRID), whose share price collapsed from near 180p to a low of around 40p before recovering to 73p — against a NAV of roughly 115p.