REG - Bellevue Healthcare - Strategic Review Result

Bellevue Healthcare TrustAnnouncement

30/10/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 4045F  Bellevue Healthcare Trust PLC  30 October 2025

30 October 2025

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF
THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC
LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED

Bellevue Healthcare Trust plc

(the "Company")

Proposed Change of Investment Management Arrangements, Investment Policy and
Investment Objective

Appointment of Columbia Threadneedle to pursue a proven, highly differentiated

 long/short equity strategy

Company to be renamed CT Healthcare Trust plc

The Board of Directors of Bellevue Healthcare Trust plc (LSE: BBH) is pleased
to announce that, following a thorough strategic review, it has decided that
the best interests of shareholders will be served by the appointment of
Columbia Threadneedle Investments ("Columbia Threadneedle") as the Company's
investment manager.

Columbia Threadneedle's investment strategy for the Company will be based on
its strongly performing Seligman Healthcare Strategy (the "Strategy"), which
adopts long and short positions. This Strategy is designed to capture the
upside of healthcare innovation and trends, whilst using short positions to
hedge and to capitalise on companies facing structural as well as clinical
headwinds.

The Strategy, which is diversified in its number of positions across
healthcare subsectors, has delivered outstanding investment performance of
+70.8% since inception, materially outperforming the Russell 3000 Health Care
Index over the same period, which returned just +2.8%.

                                 3Q25   YTD25  1-YR   2-YR   Since inception*
 Strategy Performance            16.3%  22.1%  42.7%  62.1%  70.8%
 S&P Biotechnology Index         23.1%  3.6%   1.2%   24.8%  14.6%
 Russell 3000 Health Care Index  6.9%   -4.8%  -8.0%  2.7%   2.8%

* Inception date is 1 July 2023. Performance data is as of 30 September 2025
and is cumulative total return, gross of fees, in GBP. Source: Columbia
Threadneedle. Past performance is not a guide to future returns.

Benefits of appointing Columbia Threadneedle and adopting its healthcare
strategy

Highly Differentiated Long/Short Approach

·    The investment thesis is predicated on Columbia Threadneedle's
conviction that healthcare is one of the best sectors for alpha generation as
it exhibits the widest dispersion between winners and losers of any industry,
amplified by exceptional volatility in clinical data, regulatory decisions,
and FDA leadership shifts that can reprice companies overnight.

·    A long/short strategy allows the team to capture the asymmetric
upside of innovation while actively protecting capital by shorting companies
facing structural or clinical headwinds.

·    The team behind the Strategy has the technical ability to interpret
complex scientific and medical data, giving it an edge in anticipating study
readouts that can drive major upside for longs and significant downside for
shorts. With over 90% of drugs and biotech programs ultimately failing, the
opportunity set for well-researched short positions is robust.

·    At the same time, established healthcare companies - such as med-tech
leaders, hospitals, and other secular compounders - provide durable growth and
recession-resistant moats, balancing the higher-risk but high reward profiles
of earlier-stage biotech companies.

·    This blend of innovation-driven upside, disciplined shorting, and
diversification across healthcare subsectors makes a long/short approach
particularly powerful.

Diverse, Disciplined and Innovative Portfolio Construction

·    Columbia Threadneedle's proposed Strategy for the Company is a low
net exposure, long/short equity strategy. Its investment objective is to
provide absolute returns by investing in an actively managed portfolio of
equities and derivatives with exposure to the global healthcare market.

·    The Strategy would not be subject to any geographical limits, but
Columbia Threadneedle expects predominantly to seek investment opportunities
in developed economies, with a focus on North America, Europe and Asia.

·    Positions would be actively managed against strict upside/downside
targets, with higher-risk names sized smaller and durable compounders larger.

Leading Healthcare Manager with Outstanding Investment Trust Expertise and
Infrastructure

·    Columbia Threadneedle is a proven investment manager with a strong
track record in the healthcare sector and a highly experienced healthcare
investment team based in the US.

·    The Strategy team, led by Kosta Kleyman, has a proven track record of
delivering outstanding investment performance.

·    Columbia Threadneedle manages a significant stable of London listed
investment trusts with considerable experience and extensive sales and
marketing capabilities.

·    Columbia Threadneedle has also agreed to offset costs associated with
the Company's change in investment management arrangements against its base
management fee for up to 12 months in order to minimise the impact of these
changes on the Company's net asset value.

Intention to grow with robust and regular exit opportunities

·    Regular month-end share issuances will be made available for
investors seeking access to the Strategy at above normal market size, and
where accretive to the Company's net asset value.

·    In addition to daily liquidity opportunities in the market, quarterly
liquidity opportunities at NAV (less costs) will also be available to
shareholders as a new discount control mechanism, with up to 15% of the
Company's issued share capital eligible to be realised each quarter.

To enable Columbia Threadneedle to implement its proposed Strategy for the
Company, the Board intends to update the Company's investment objective and
investment policy to focus on providing absolute returns by investing in an
actively managed portfolio of equities and derivatives with exposure to the
global healthcare market. The Company would seek to invest in a diversified
portfolio of equity or equity-linked securities, including short positions in
stocks or markets that Columbia Threadneedle, as investment manager, considers
to be over-valued, impaired or where desirable for the purposes of hedging and
risk control.

For these purposes, the Company would define the "global healthcare market" as
businesses operating in, having revenues predominantly arising from or
otherwise having significant exposure to healthcare and healthcare-related
sectors including, in particular, biotechnology, healthcare information
technology, healthcare providers, healthcare services, life sciences, managed
care providers, medical diagnostics, medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals.

If Columbia Threadneedle is appointed as the Company's Manager, the Company
will change its name to CT Healthcare Trust plc.

The proposed changes to the investment objective and policy and the proposed
change in the Company's name will be subject to the finalisation of definitive
transition documentation and regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Background

On 7 August 2025, the Board announced a strategic review to consider all
options available to the Company with the objective of improving performance
or otherwise achieving value for shareholders.  During the strategic review,
the Board received and considered multiple proposals from investment companies
and investment managers, including the Company's current investment manager,
Bellevue Asset Management. An orderly wind-down was also considered.

Whilst the strategic review was initiated owing to the Company's
underperformance, the Board continues to believe that the healthcare sector
offers a compelling opportunity for investment returns owing to its
groundbreaking innovations, scale of human importance, diversity of companies
and subsectors, all of which are supported by a strong intellectual property
and regulatory environment.

In considering the various proposals in the strategic review, the Columbia
Threadneedle proposal was particularly attractive owing to the track record
and experience of the proposed investment team, the diversification in their
portfolio construction and the use of short positions to mitigate risk and to
create value generating opportunities.

About Columbia Threadneedle and the Seligman Healthcare Strategy

Columbia Threadneedle is the asset management arm of US-based Ameriprise
Financial, Inc. As of 30 June 2025, Columbia Threadneedle oversees £503
billion in assets under management and advisement, and Ameriprise over £1.2
trillion, with offices in 17 countries.

Columbia Threadneedle's technology and healthcare capabilities are managed by
Seligman Investments, which forms part of the firm's $68bn global Alternatives
business.

The Seligman Healthcare Strategy was devised over three years ago and is run
by Kosta Kleyman. Kosta has a professional Doctorate in Pharmacy, having led
cancer drug commercialisation and clinical development for seven-years at
top-tier pharmaceutical and biotech companies such as Genentech/Roche,
AstraZeneca and Arcus.

Kosta is supported by a healthcare team of eight analysts, combining deep
scientific training with specialised healthcare expertise. The team is
organised with sub-sector specialists across biotech, pharma, med-tech,
healthcare services, and treasuries, ensuring comprehensive coverage of the
full healthcare landscape. This combination of technical rigour, sector
specialisation and scale enhance their ability to identify inflection points,
anticipate regulatory outcomes, and underwrite investments with conviction.

For more information on the Seligman Healthcare Strategy please visit
www.columbiathreadneedle.com/healthcare-strategy/
(http://www.columbiathreadneedle.com/healthcare-strategy/) .

Neither the contents of the website referred to above nor the contents of any
website accessible from hyperlinks on the websites (or any other website) are
incorporated into, or form part of, this announcement.

Dividend Policy

The Company's current investment strategy seeks to provide shareholders with
both capital and income growth. The Company's proposed new investment
objective seeks absolute returns and is focused on producing capital growth,
though the Company would retain the ability to pay dividends from capital.

The Board intends to consult further with shareholders as to the Company's
future dividend policy in the period prior to publication of the Circular to
shareholders.

Future Investment Management Arrangements

If Columbia Threadneedle is appointed as investment manager, it will enter
into a new investment management agreement with the Company, under which:

·    the base management fee would be 0.95 per cent. of net asset value
(NAV) per annum; and

·    consistent with the change to an active long/short equity strategy
and to ensure alignment between the Company and its investment manager, a
performance fee would also be introduced, pursuant to which Columbia
Threadneedle would be entitled to receive 15 per cent. of any growth in NAV in
any financial year in excess of a hurdle equal to the average three-month
SONIA rate during such financial year, subject to a NAV high water mark.

Discount Control and Liquidity Opportunities

The Board is conscious of investors' desire to maintain robust discount
control mechanisms. It is proposed that, from the point at which Columbia
Threadneedle is appointed as the investment manager, the Company's current
discount control mechanisms, being the Zero Discount Policy and the annual
redemption, will be replaced with quarterly liquidity opportunities for up to
15% of the Company's issued share capital, coupled with use of share buybacks,
with the aim of targeting a discount of 5% or less in normal market
conditions. The removal of the annual redemption offer and the implementation
of the quarterly liquidity window provisions will be implemented via
amendments to the Company's articles of association and will require
shareholder approval.

The Company will also seek the appropriate shareholder approvals to issue
shares at scale on a regular month-end basis, should such issuances be
accretive to the net asset value and where there is demand which the market is
unable to accommodate.

The Zero Discount Policy will remain active until at least the date of the
General Meeting.

The enhanced liquidity arrangements and other discount control mechanisms seek
to enable investors to deploy capital in size without relying on the liquidity
of the market, whilst having the assurance of being able to realise their
investment, should they need to, either in the market at less than a 5%
discount or through quarterly liquidity opportunities. Further details on
these improved liquidity arrangements will be set out in the Circular to
shareholders alongside seeking approval for, amongst other things, the
amendments to the Company's investment objective and policy, the proposed
changes to the Company's name and the proposed amendments of the Company's
articles of association described above.

Board Succession

Kate Bolsover, the Chairman of the Company, is also the Chairman of another
company managed by Columbia Threadneedle. Accordingly, if the Proposals are
adopted and Columbia Threadneedle is appointed as the Company's manager, Ms
Bolsover will no longer be regarded as independent of the manager. In order to
ensure that both companies remain in compliance with the UK Listing Rules and
the highest standards of corporate governance, Ms Bolsover will not stand for
re-election at the next annual general meeting of the Company. It is proposed
that Sarah MacAulay, who joined the Board in February 2025, will be appointed
as the next Chairman of the Company with effect from the conclusion of the
next annual general meeting (subject to her re-election as a director).

Ms MacAulay is a highly experienced investment trust non-executive director
and Chairman. She is currently Chairman of Schroder Asian Total Return
Investment Company plc, a senior independent director at Fidelity Japan Trust
PLC and a non-executive director at Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust plc.
Among her previous roles, Ms MacAulay also served as the Chairman of JPMorgan
Multi-Asset Growth and Income plc.

Kate Bolsover, Chairman of Bellevue Healthcare Trust, said:

"Following a thorough strategic review, in which all options for the future of
the Company were considered including winding up the Company, merger
opportunities with existing investment trusts and a variety of new investment
strategies, we are pleased to announce our intention to appoint Columbia
Threadneedle as investment manager, subject to shareholder approval, and to
adopt an investment strategy closely modelled on the strongly performing
Seligman Healthcare Strategy.

"We believe this will give shareholders a new, highly differentiated and
diversified investment strategy which employs an innovative, proprietary
long/short strategy to generate positive returns even when healthcare indices
are in decline. The Columbia Threadneedle team has deep scientific, medical
and technical expertise and we look forward to giving our shareholders the
opportunity to benefit from their exceptional track record of generating
positive absolute and relative returns."

Kosta Kleyman, the Company's proposed portfolio manager at Columbia
Threadneedle, said:

"We believe healthcare is one of the most fertile grounds for alpha
generation, with the sector constantly innovating while navigating complexity
and often significant peaks of volatility. The Columbia Threadneedle
healthcare strategy is designed to maximise shareholder return by exploiting
these areas through a disciplined long/short approach, which looks to identify
breakthrough opportunities while actively managing risk. The team has advanced
scientific and clinical expertise and is uniquely positioned to interpret
data, anticipate inflection points and deliver consistent, uncorrelated
returns. We benefit from being based in the US, the world's largest healthcare
market and also the world's largest capital market for healthcare companies.
We are excited by the opportunity to bring our differentiated strategy to
Bellevue Healthcare Trust shareholders."

Circular

The Proposals are subject to shareholder approval. A Circular with further
details of the Proposals, including a notice convening a General Meeting and
setting out full details of the proposed revised investment objective and
policy and proposed amendments to the articles of association, is expected to
be published later in the year.

 

For further information, please contact:

 Bellevue Healthcare Trust plc
 Kate Bolsover, Chairman                                   c/o Burson Buchanan +44 (0) 20 7466 5000

 Burson Buchanan                                           +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
 Henry Wilson / Mark Court / Nick Croysdill / Jesse McNab  BBH@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:BBH@buchanan.uk.com)

 JP Morgan Cazenove                                        +44 (0) 20 3493 8000
 William Simmonds / Rupert Budge                           BBH_JPMC@jpmorgan.com (mailto:BBH_JPMC@jpmorgan.com)

 NSM Funds (UK) Ltd                                        +44 (0) 20 3697 5770
 Brian Smith / Ciara McKillop                              bellevue@nsm.group (mailto:bellevue@nsm.group)

 

LEI: 213800HQ3J3H9YF2UI82

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