There has been no shortage of events to keep investors on their toes in recent months and years, from wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran to political uncertainty at home and abroad, as well as question marks over the path of global economic growth and the trajectory of inflation and interest rates. While a surging gold price in 2025 propelled commodity funds to the top of the performance charts, technology stocks – particularly those related to artificial intelligence – have re-taken the baton in the past weeks, although market jitters are becoming increasingly frequent, and opinion remains divided over whether the long-running AI bull market represents a durable secular change or a bubble of historic proportions.

INPP was born in response to a policy-driven investment opportunity, but rather than tailing off as its initial public-private partnership (PPP) projects approached maturity, it has grown into a diversified and increasingly future-proofed portfolio of government-backed, regulated and operating assets offering sustainable, growing and inflation-linked income for the next 25 years even if no new investments are made, alongside some capital growth potential. The structuring of its deals and the choice of assets (for example, transmission lines for offshore wind farms, rather than the wind farms themselves, and rolling stock leasing companies rather than nationalisation-bound train operating companies) mitigates risk and protects returns, while shareholders can also enjoy the knowledge that their investment is enabling the development of the essential services necessary to a modern society. A near 19-year record of unbroken and fully covered dividend growth have fed into NAV and share price total returns of c 250% since launch, averaging 6.3% a year on a share price basis.

While the sector may be highly cyclical and has at times had its ‘wilderness years’, a diversified allocation to commodities has consistently proved its strong performance potential, making it a solid choice to tuck away for long-term, inflation-beating returns. With a track record of more than 30 years, BRWM is the granddaddy of the AIC’s Commodities & Natural Resources sector, producing NAV and share price total returns in excess of 2,000% from inception to 31 December 2025 (FY25). Its ‘virtual mining company’ strategy allows it to respond to shifts in demand and supply more quickly than a physical mining company ever could, enabling its investors to benefit from global megatrends including AI, resource security, defence spending and power grid renewal. The highly experienced co-managers, who have worked together on the trust for over a decade, are backed up by one of the largest and best-resourced sector specialist teams in the investment world.

Following a strong 1HFY26 performance, Craneware has released a trading statement for the year to 30 June identifying an unexpected slowdown in 340B transactions revenue. While customer demand and cash generation have remained strong throughout the year, revenue is now expected to be US$205-US$208m with Adjusted EBITDA of US$65-US$67m, broadly in line with FY25 but materially below market expectations for FY26. We reduce our forecasts in line with revised guidance, essentially postponing anticipated growth by a year. We believe the shortfall in anticipated 340B revenue is primarily driven by the hiatus in US drug policy during the year and do not believe there is any significant change in the market opportunity in this business. Mechanically, our discounted cash flow valuation reduces by 5% to 2,945p however, that is still double the current share price. We note that Craneware completed its US$25m share repurchase programme in May and we have made no change to our dividend forecast.

BlackRock Energy and Resources Income Trust (BERI) is reaping the benefits of its threefold focus on conventional energy, mining and energy transition, with share price and NAV total returns of c 70% and c 60% respectively over the past 12 months (to 19 June 2026). Portfolio managers Tom Holl, Mark Hume and new addition Charlie Brew took advantage of lower relative valuations early in the year to rotate from their overweight mining position towards traditional energy and have thus far been rewarded by rising oil prices since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran. However, they remain more focused on the bigger picture, constructing a portfolio that is primed to benefit from long-term structural trends such as power grid renewal, the rollout of AI infrastructure and the need for increased energy security.

Sulnox has signed a very large new supply contract with Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) for quintuple the volumes and more than double the tenure of the first deal announced in January 2025. The new contract will extend the use of Sulnox Eco fuel conditioner to more than 50 vessels in the EPS fleet and follows the initial 30 vessel, 18-month contract together with additional technical validation initiatives. This agreement will see EPS further increase its investment into Sulnox but on much more favourable terms for Sulnox. Besides reaffirming the traction of Sulnox’s fuel conditioners in the marine market, the company has also been making a sustained push to build out its distribution network targeting land-based use. We make no changes to our forecasts apart from incorporating the nominal new share issuance. On our estimates, Sulnox is funded through to profitability which we forecast from FY28 with the potential for very rapid escalation thereafter (see our initiation on our portal).

We recently attended a scheduled update for analysts hosted by Seplat CFO, Eleanor Adaralegbe which addressed the recently announced Board succession plans as well as providing a more general update of operations and strategy implementation. Current 2026 targets and the 2030 strategy targets were reiterated. While the company remains highly disciplined in its management of operations and cash, the strength of current cash generation means Seplat is exploring the potential to accelerate opportunities in its portfolio, while the free cash flow linked dividend policy indicates a path to further increases in the dividend, in addition to the hike in the 1Q26 total dividend. Despite the vigorous share price performance, Seplat continues to trade below peers based on enterprise value to reserves and now offers easily the highest prospective dividend of UK listed peers with significant emerging markets exposure while still generating significant growth. Seplat offers 21% and 51% upside to our calculated net asset values of 668p and 834p at discount rates of 15% and 10%, respectively.

Index concentration has accelerated and the US now makes up 63% of the MSCI ACWI, while China, Taiwan and South Korea together account for the same share of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. These markets are themselves dominated by a few very large companies, so investors seeking genuine diversification must look more widely. BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust (BRFI) offers exactly that, with c 50 stocks across 18 countries representing almost a fifth of the world's population yet under 1% of global market capitalisation. Experienced co-managers Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher, supported by BlackRock's deep research resources, combine top-down and bottom-up analysis to find opportunities in smaller emerging and frontier markets. The result is a highly differentiated global portfolio that has delivered lower volatility, attractive mid- and longer-term returns, and an above-average dividend yield (currently 4.0%).