The most popular investment trusts on AJ Bell’s YouInvest platform in the month to 8 February include long-time favourites such as Scottish Mortgage (SMT) and Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT), as well as some trusts investors may be less familiar with.
Investment trusts can be a useful option for investors looking for diversified exposure to a range of different companies and other assets.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF VALUATION ANOMALIES
BMO Global Smaller Companies (BGSC) says it seeks to exploit the ‘high investment potential’ of smaller companies listed on global stock markets.
The investment trust wants to take advantage of a deficit of research in smaller companies by using fundamental analysis to identify valuation anomalies.
As of January, the investment trust’s top 10 holdings include North American waste services company Waste Connections, healthcare firm STERIS and several funds.
UK investors may be more familiar with other holdings with a lower weighting, including specialist foams supplier Zotefoams (ZTF) and ten-pin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL).
Over the last year, BMO Global Smaller Companies achieved a 3.4% trailing total return.
GLOBAL HEALTHCARE IN FOCUS
Among YouInvest’s most popular investment trusts in January is Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH), which invests in the global healthcare sector to target a high level of capital growth.
Top 10 holdings include US pharmaceutical giant Merck and medical devices manufacturer Boston Scientific, which recently offered to buy healthcare technology firm BTG (BTG).
Japanese pharmaceutical group Takeda is also among the biggest holdings. Takeda dominated headlines last year after buying rare diseases specialist Shire, which used to be listed on the UK stock market.
Worldwide Healthcare Trust delivered a total share price return of 7.7% over the last year.
CAPITAL GROWTH GOAL
British Empire Trust (BTEM) aims to achieve capital growth by looking for companies whose share price is at a discount to its underlying net asset value (NAV).
Included in its top 10 holdings are British investment trust Pershing Square, Japanese stockholding company Tokyo Broadcasting System and investment group Tetragon Financial.
Over the last year, total share price returns have been limited at 0.8% meaning investors will have failed to keep pace with inflation.
British Empire Trust says Japanese small-caps were among the worst-hit stocks globally during December, impacting nearly 20% of its portfolio, which is exposed to Japanese equities.
