With UK companies suspending dividends left, right and centre, times are tough for income investors. One possible solution is to look to investment trusts. Many are sitting on significant revenue reserves which they can draw on during ‘rainy days’ to supplement their revenue and maintain dividends during ‘Black Swan’ events such as the coronavirus shutdown. Most income trusts have ...

Law Debenture (LWDB) 610p Gain to date: 5.5% Original entry point: Buy at 578p, 21 March 2019 Our ‘buy’ call on Law Debenture (LWDB) is in the money even after this unusual trust got caught up in the recent sell-off. We’re staying positive following full year results (27 Feb) which revealed an impressive net asset value (NAV) total return of 17.9% for 2019, with the share ...

Investors are concerned about what Brexit means for their portfolios and how to navigate the current tricky markets. There’s no magic bullet, but investors should make sure there aren’t any risks lurking in their portfolios that they aren’t aware of. One step they can take is to check the level of gearing in any investment trusts they own. Borrowing to invest is also known as ...

Investors who prefer to entrust capital allocation decisions to a professional money manager as opposed to buying individual stocks are exceptionally well served by the FTSE 350. Within its ranks, you’ll find a highly-diverse batch of investment trusts spanning all the key asset classes. Shares’ number-crunching reveals a grand total of 57 investment trusts within the FTSE 350 – that is ...

The Great Ideas section of the digital magazine represents our best ideas each week. We try to publish updates as soon as there has been relevant news, but sometimes all the news comes at once and we don’t have space to feature everything. In an effort to catch up on the latest events, we’re running the Great Ideas Update section in a slightly different format this week as we have 11 ...

There is a rare chance to pick up an unusual but very attractive investment trust trading on a wider than normal discount to its net asset value (NAV) at 13.2% versus a 12-month average of 11.8%. You also get a dividend currently yielding 3.3%. Law Debenture (LWDB) is an investment trust with a twist – in addition to a portfolio of stocks it also provides services to corporate trust and ...

Funds frequently become so synonymous with the managers that run them that if he or she departs or retires, an investor exodus follows. Yet the success of a fund is rarely down to a single person; often a deep bench of analysts and researchers contribute to the running of a successful portfolio. And in the event of a manager resigning, there is generally a long handover period to the new ...

Many investment trusts are diversified products, typically with portfolios made up of up to 100 individual companies. A trust which invests in other investment trusts arguably takes this to another level, potentially providing exposure to thousands of underlying investments. You get a professional insight into the prospects and performance of a variety of funds by watching the purchases and ...

Market corrections are often seen by retail and professional investors as an opportunity to acquire quality stocks at a bargain price. Investment trusts have considerable flexibility to take advantage of these situations because they can borrow money to invest, creating a larger pool from which to earn dividends or generate capital gains. THE IMPACT OF GEARING Borrowing to invest is also ...

Investment trusts offer numerous benefits for those who take the time to understand them, but too often investors miss out on the opportunities offered by these investment gems, put off because they can seem complicated. In fact, an investment trust is incredibly similar to a fund – the major difference is it is listed on the stock market and you buy shares rather than units. The price of these ...

Stockbroker Numis Securities’ review of the first half of 2018 for equity-focused investment trusts fits the pattern of the wider markets through the period. It is very much a tale of two halves. In the first quarter trusts struggled amid a big setback for global stocks before a strong recovery in the  second half. Numis notes UK shares were among the top performers in this recovery with ...

One of the key points to check when buying an investment trust is the discount or premium to net asset value (NAV). It always feels like a bargain if you can buy the shares for less than the underlying portfolio is worth, but it is important to dig a bit deeper. An investment trust trading at a discount such as 5% may look like good value, yet if the shares normally change hands 10% below their ...

Investors’ patience has been tested this year by shock political results in the UK and US rocking the markets. Further upheaval is likely given rising inflation and uncertainty over the pace of Brexit and the outcome of European elections. Nervous investors cannot really afford to take their money out of the markets as returns are so poor on cash at present. So where do you turn? We highlight ...

The top 10 best-performing investment trusts have delivered an average 12.1% compound annual return* over the past 25 years, illustrating the power of investing in the stock market. This is according to new data from the Association of Investment Trusts (AIC). This article looks at the leaders over this period, and the best performers on a 10-year basis. This list of winners can give you a good ...