Heavy mark-downs on zero pref shares

Zero dividend preference shares have seen several of their number suffer heavy mark downs in the last seven weeks but funds of zeros do not seem to have suffered. The falls have come as investors worry about the zeros' exposure to highly geared ordinaries. According to David Coulson, senior divisional director at Hill Osborne, part of Brewin Dolphin, of 103 zero shares on the market, 21, equivalent to 23.7%, have less than 100% cover. Cover is the extent to which the final redemption price is covered by the current assets of the trust. He added that out of these 21 Zeros, 15 have ...