Net asset value (NAV) underperformed in first half£300 million spent on share buybacksLong term approach to identify secular growthGrowth investing may be creeping back into favour as investors bet on an end to interest rate hikes, but that hasn?t yet fed through to the Baillie Gifford-managed Monks Investment Trust (MNKS) judging by first half results.Net asset value total return slipped 3.3% fo

Equity income trusts in demandCity of London most boughtScottish Mortgage, Finsbury Growth & Income divide opinionWith conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine creating uncertainty, and investors grappling with cost-of-living pressures as falling inflation is expected to be a drawn-out process, dependable income trusts have proved popular on the AJ Bell platform over the past month.At the same time

Final dividend of 3.15pShare price return falls by 7%Unquoted companies exposure reduced to 4%Monks Investment Trust's (MNKS) net asset value for the year ending 30 April 2023 fell by 1.6% and underperformed its benchmark, the FTSE World Index.The share price total return fell by 7% compared to a 3.2% increase in the FTSE World Index.The Edinburgh-based investment trust blamed its performance on g

UK investment trusts are trading at the widest discount seen since the 2007/8 financial crisis, according to recent research from Numis and Winterflood. Against a backdrop of weak investor sentiment, the sector weighted average discount widened from 2.3% at the start of 2022 to 16.4% by the end of March 2023.For example, the Global sector is currently trading on a 9.27% discount to NAV versus a fi

David is a 41-year-old IT consultant who first got interested in investing in 2004 after buying shares in his employer when it floated on the Indian stock market.He then started investing in the UK and US markets for his ISA and SIPP (self-invested person pension). The ISA is used to house stocks while the SIPP is comprised of funds and investment trusts.David still owns shares in the Indian compa

On 5 September, asset manager Abrdn (ABDN) announced that veteran and very successful fund manager Harry Nimmo will retire from the firm and the industry at the end of 2022 after the best part of four decades with the company.The news will have certainly set the nerves of investors in Abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust (AUSC) and Abrdn UK Smaller Companies (B7FBH94) jangling, given that Nimmo

The year so far has seen significant volatility for global stock markets driven by concerns over red-hot inflation, the impact on share prices of rising interest rates and war in Ukraine.Crunching the latest data from Winterflood Investment Trusts, Shares has spotted that discounts to net asset value have widened on a variety of trusts with interesting strategies and prospects.BANKERS ON SALEFor i

The global equity fund and investment trust sectors contain some of the most popular vehicles with UK investors - including the likes of Fundsmith Equity (B41YBW7) and Scottish Mortgage (SMT).The big appetite for international exposure should come as little surprise given overseas stocks have comfortably outperformed UK shares for many years, at least until the first month of 2022.The recent marke

Ryan Hughes, head of investment research at AJ Bell, picks eight funds and investment trusts with different risk levels covering bonds, global equities, infrastructure, healthcare and dividends.Cautious investors: Personal Assets Investment Trust (PNL)5-year annualised return: 6.68% (source: Morningstar)I'm sticking with the Personal Assets trust for the third year in a row, particularly as the ec

The simple option for investors these days is to choose a tracker fund which mirrors a certain part of the market. Therefore, actively managed funds really need to add value and deliver market-beating returns if they are to convince investors not to go for the easy option of a tracker fund.All products classified as investment trusts are actively managed funds and there are certain areas which hav

Have you ever bought an investment trust only for the share price to fall by a greater amount than the decline in its net asset value? There is often a good reason why the shares are reacting in that way.The structure of investment trusts, which sees their shares traded on the stock market, means they can trade at a premium or discount to the underlying value of their investments or their NAV (net

MONKS INVESTMENT TRUST (MNKS) £13.52Gain to date: 2.9%Original entry point: £13.14, 10 December 2020We were expecting more than a 2.9% share price gain when adding Baillie Gifford-managed Monks (MNKS) to our Great Ideas selections list in December, but the recent renaissance of value stocks created headwinds for a trust focused on companies with above-average earnings growth.Having consistently

Baillie Gifford-run investment trust Monks (MNKS) smashed its FTSE World benchmark in the year to 30 April, delivering a total return of 55.5% compared to 33.9% for the index.While they have since fallen back a bit as the market rotation into value stocks continues, key contributors to performance during the period included growth stocks such as electric carmaker Tesla, whose share price rose four

There are many options for an investor wanting to put their money to work right around the world.Even if you've narrowed it down and decided to go for an investment trust instead of an open-ended active fund or a passive exchange-traded fund (ETF), choosing the trust for you can still seem a daunting task, particularly when there are 15 of them in the Association of Investment Companies' (AIC) glo

Investors need not be too worried about what the rotation into value could mean for some of the most popular investment trusts geared towards growth names.Some of the trusts that invest almost exclusively in growth names are still delivering a decent performance, showing there are some good fund managers despite what the critics of active management might say.Naturally more value-orientated trusts

Budget airlines Ryanair (RYA) and Wizz Air (WIZZ) will strip UK investors of their voting rights once the Brexit transition period ends, in order to stay in line with EU ownership rules.In a statement Irish airline Ryanair said UK shareholders will not be required to sell their shares, but such shareholders will lose the right to attend, speak or vote at any general meeting of the company from 1 J

While Baillie Gifford's flagship investment trust Scottish Mortgage (SMT) tends to hog the headlines, there are other top-performing funds that bring exposure to the highly rated investment management group's best growth ideas. One high-flying trust that looks particularly compelling is Monks (MNKS), which has a differentiated approach to global growth.Typically holding over 100 stocks offering a

Optimism surrounding Covid-19 vaccines combined with positive factory data from China and the UK to send the FTSE 100 higher on the first trading day of December, the blue chip benchmark ending the session 1.9% up at 6,384.73.Gold regained its shine again amid a rare down day for cryptocurrency Bitcoin, while US shares were in demand with the S&P 500 up 1.3% to 3,669.14 by 4.30pm UK time.CORPORATE

The FTSE 100 was 2.1% firmer at 6,396.64 on Tuesday, the blue chip benchmark buoyed by positive factory data from China and the UK, although sterling remained volatile with Brexit talks going down to the wire.CORPORATE NEWSIn corporate news, department store Debenhams announced it is entering liquidation after JD Sports (JD.) pulled out of a deal to buy the group out of administration. Shares in J

Highly-rated growth fund manager Baillie Gifford continued its strong returns run as the Monks Investment Trust (MNKS) significantly outperformed its benchmark in the half-year to 31 October 2020.Monks reported net asset value (NAV) growth of 26.8% during the six months, helping to power the share price 25.7% higher. This represented another knock-out performance versus its FTSE World Index benchm