Among the investment trust sector's most storied trusts is RIT Capital Partners (RCP), the big beast of the Association of Investment Companies' (AIC) Flexible Investment sector in which the Rothschild family remains the largest shareholder. Boasting total assets north of £4.2 billion, the trust sits in the bottom half of the sector's five-year share price total return rankings, but RIT...

Creates largest European Smaller Companies trust Lower costs for shareholders Focus on 'dynamic' European small and medium-sized firms The consolidation wave continues to break across the investment trust sector, with the struggling European Assets (EAT) and the stronger-performing European Smaller Companies (ESCT) the latest names to propose a merger. Wide discounts to NAV (net asset value)...

Discounts to the value of assets held, and more rarely premiums, are par for the course when it comes to investment trusts. These are best understood as the gap between the share price and the net asset value (NAV). For example, a trust with 100p of assets per share and a 95p share price trades at a 5% discount to NAV. Discounts can give savvy investors the chance to buy assets for less than...

The UK market's long-awaited IPO comeback is conspicuous by its absence. There were only four floats in the first quarter of 2025 versus 15 takeover situations, meaning the UK market continues to shrink in size. Last summer, there was market euphoria about a new government coming into power and how that would create more certainty for businesses. They might not like all policies, but they...

A big takeaway from 2024 was the big uptick in investment trust consolidation. It was a record year for mergers in the sector and the landmark deal was the combination between Alliance Trust and Witan to form Alliance Witan (ALW). Completed in October, the merger created a global sector giant with total assets of £5.8 billion, achieved economies of scale that have been passed on to...

So far 2025 is shaping up to be an unpredictable and difficult year for investors, but for one part of the financial markets there has been some positivity.Last October, investment trusts were languishing at an average discount to NAV (net asset value) of 17%, the largest since the financial crisis, according to data from industry body the Association of Investment Companies (AIC).Valuations...

The end of the tax year is now just a couple of weeks away so if you want to make use of any remaining ISA allowance your window to do so is rapidly closing.In this article the Shares team has put its collective heads together to identify a quintet of funds which we think are worthy of inclusion as part of a diversified portfolio. Some of these names may already be familiar but others are...