Asset Management
Six Investment Trusts Still Operating Since 1952
Adrian Lowery, investments and markets analyst at DIY investing platform Bestinvest, discusses how top investment trusts have fared since the Queen started her historic 70-year reign.
To mark the start of the long bank holiday weekend of
celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Adrian Lowery from
Bestinvest looks at
how investment trusts have been faring since 1952.
Although Scottish Mortgage investment trust has taken a severe
battering this year, Lowery said it has recorded an impressive
share price total return (including re-invested
dividends) over the last 30 years of 3,480 per cent.
Companies launched at least 70 years ago that appear on the
Bestinvest Best Funds List which is published twice a year
include:
Mercantile Investment Trust
A £1.7 billion ($2.14 billion) trust run by Guy Anderson and
Anthony Lynch at global investment house JPMorgan Asset
Management. It focuses on businesses that combat rising inflation
and supply chain issues. It also focuses on UK smaller and
medium-sized companies which have seen a sharp sell-off this year
as the outlook for the economy soured. This resulted in
Mercantile’s share price falling to a discount of more than 14
per cent, despite the stock offering a yield of 3.9 per cent, the
firm said. Mercantile has a high proportion of holdings in
technology stocks, including Softcat and Computacenter.
Henderson Smaller Companies
This trust provides exposure to companies such as Oxford
Instruments, a tech company worth £1.14 billion ($1.44 billion),
against the $2.14 trillion-valued Microsoft. It offers a yield of
2.7 per cent and is currently trading at a discount of about 17
per cent, the firm said.
TR Property
This UK-based investment company is the only investment trust
which invests mainly in the shares of property companies rather
than physical property. About a third of the trust is invested in
residential property, and its shares – trading at a 9 per cent
discount – provide a dividend income equivalent to around 3.5 per
cent. The team, led by Marcus Phayre-Mudge, have worked together
for many years and are regarded as the leading real-estate
securities team in the UK, with a strong track record, the
firm stressed.
Scottish Mortgage
This is still managed from Baillie Gifford’s Edinburgh offices,
investing in high growth stocks from the US to China, most of
which are publicly listed. The trust has taken a battering since
the start of the year, as sectors such as tech have sold off
aggressively, but the long-term track record is outstanding and
the fees are also low too, the firm said. This means
that its share price is trading on a significant discount of more
than 10 per cent, it added.
Finsbury Growth & Income
High-profile fund manager Nick Train apologised at a recent
investment seminar for this trust's performance over the last 18
months, the firm said. The trust, which is sitting on a 6.8 per
cent discount, has underperformed its benchmark and sector so far
this year. It is down 13.8 per cent as of 27 May, while the UK
Equity Income trust sector is down 2.0 per cent, much like the
London stock market year-to-date.
Temple Bar (TMPL)
Contrarian investor Ian Lance is co-head of the UK value and
income team at Redwheel and co-manager of the Temple Bar
investment trust.This investment trust with an equity income
focus is trading at a discount of 5.4 per cent with a yield
of 3.5 per cent.