Schroder back in investment mode

SCHRODER Ventures International Investment Trust has returned to the market after a hiatus caused in part by the Iraq war and the outbreak of the deadly Sars virus.

Reporting half-year results today, SVIIT, a private-equity fund of funds company, revealed that it made no new fund commitments in the first six months of the year but has made two since June.

It has committed e400m (£276m) to private equity house Permira's third pan-European buyout fund at its first closing and is considering putting in further amounts.

SVIIT has also made a US$50m (£31.9m) commitment to The Japan Fund IV at its first close, which is expected in the coming months. SVIIT first indicated its interest in the Japan buyout market in May.

While acknowledging the difficult trading environment of the first half, SVIIT said it was satisfied with its results, which saw net assets at £462.4m, broadly in line with the December 2002 figure.

Chief executive Nick Ferguson said the numbers reflected the strong long-term performance of private equity.

However, the portfolio, which is sensitive to currency fluctuations, has suffered from the weakness of the US dollar. This led to a £7.4m write-down on global specialist semiconductor distributor Memec.