It has been a difficult year for investment trusts as a whole. Discounts have widened across various sectors and there have been a series of failed continuation votes and mergers. Yet some trusts have still done extremely well - relative both to the wider market and their peer group. In this article we shine a light on the biggest outperformers in some of the Association of Investment Companies' m

Our investor this week is Andy, who is in his early thirties and has been investing since he left university around a decade ago.A history graduate, Andy puts his initial interest in finance and markets down to his father who is an accountant.'I can't remember exactly what the trigger was,' says Andy, 'but around the time I was leaving university the economy was still just coming out of the global

The cost-of-living crisis, job insecurity and uncertain economic conditions mean people are eager to find investments that pay a dependable stream of income.The aim is to find something that can deliver sustained growth in the dividend each year and for the capital value to also grow over time.GOLDEN RULE #1There are three golden rules to follow when searching for quality sources of income. The fi

Gordon retired in his late 50s after a successful career in media planning including a period working for The Sunday Times. He is a big fan of investing and calls his SIPP (self-invested personal pension) 'my family's future'.Dividing his time between a rented flat in Mexico City and a house in the UK, Gordon's investment journey stems from his interest in the general management of companies, thei

- Defensive income trumps growth in 2022- 5-for-1 share split proposed- On course for 18th successive dividend increaseDespite choppy financial market conditions throughout 2022, global income star Murray International (MYI) delivered a net asset value (NAV) total return of 8.8% for the year to December.This comfortably outperformed a 7.3% drop in the FTSE All World Total Return index as Murray In

Achieving decent returns has been difficult in 2022 as shareholders in many investment trusts have found to their cost. According to data from the Association of Investment Companies, the average one-year share price total return from all trusts (excluding venture capital trusts) is -13.7%.However, several trusts have really stood out from their sector peers this year. In this article we highlight

Murray International (MYI) £12.70Gain to date: 4.4%We added Murray International (MYI) to the Great Ideas portfolio at £12.16 on 7 July 2022 in the hope veteran fund manager Bruce Stout's experience and the trust's diversified exposure would be prized in the current environment.So far, we've been vindicated as the trust has continued to outperform its closest peers and the wider market.WHAT'S HA

During volatile market conditions and high inflation, investors are looking for ways to protect their income. Investment trusts have an income advantage which is particularly important for seekers of rising payouts.This is because they are able to hold back up to 15% of the income they receive from their investments in their revenue reserves. They can use these reserves to boost dividends during l

Based on the number of deals placed by AJ Bell customers in the past month, Scottish Mortgage (SMT) was both the most bought and sold investment trust as investors weighed the popular growth fund's long-term potential against short-term headwinds in the form of red-hot inflation and rising interest rates.Other top investment trust buys and sells by value included SDCL Energy Efficiency Income (SEI

Murray International (MYI) offers diversified access to the highest growth regions of the world with an attractive 4.5% yield and proven track record of growing the dividend.Steered by veteran fund manager Bruce Stout, Murray International is one of the few investment trusts to post a positive return for the year, with the shares up 5.2%, helped by a narrowing discount as investors acknowledge imp

The increased popularity of investment trusts is reflected in a pronounced narrowing of the average discount to net asset value (the value of a trust's investments minus any liabilities) across all trusts over the past decade.Data from the Association of Investment Companies and Morningstar shows that as at 31 December 2021, and excluding venture capital trusts and alternative vehicles, trusts tra

I look at lots of different factors when I'm researching investment trusts and one that I've spotted recently is the percentage of the trust that's owned by institutional investors. Does this hold any relevance?For example, if one trust had 20% held by an institutional investor and another had 80%, which would be the better investment, assuming all other factors are equal? Or is this something I d

This is part two of a three-part series on the FTSE 250. Read part one here and we'll conclude the series in next week's issue. In our three part series on the FTSE 250 we are aiming to slice and dice the index to identify stocks with different inherent qualities and generate ideas for investors. This week in part two we look at the FTSE 250 from the perspective of growth versus valuation and divi

Next month the banking sector will be able to start paying dividends to its shareholders again. However, before investors get too excited about renewed payouts from these erstwhile income favourites there is a potential sting in the tail.The Prudential Regulation Authority will allow the banks to pay a dividend covering their 2020 financial year but dividends for 2021 can only be accrued and not d

It's been a tough year for people who rely on their investments for income thanks to widespread dividend cuts. Income fund managers have now rejigged their portfolios to names which they believe will be dependable source of dividends or bond coupons going forward.Their changes make for interesting reading, particularly for anyone who prefers individual stocks to investment funds as it might throw

UK stocks continued to fall throughout trading on Friday morning, having been led down by the airlines after the Government's sudden decision to quarantine arrivals from France, the Netherlands and Malta.The new quarantine rules for British travellers helped take the shine off what had been a strong week of stock market gains that were mostly powered by bets of more economic stimulus.Also disappoi

Investment trust Murray International (MYI) fell 0.8% to 958p as first half results revealed a worse performance than the market but the company kept its dividend for the period stable at 12p per share.The company's net asset value total return per share for the six months through June was negative 10.7%.That compared to a 4.7% fall on its reference index, which comprised the FTSE All World TR Ind

UK markets retreated in early trading on Friday as a surprise dip in Chinese retail sales dashed hopes for a swift post-pandemic recovery. New quarantine rules for British travellers also helped take the shine off a strong week of stock market gains that were powered by bets of more economic stimulus.The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 0.73% at 6,140.24, with investors also treading water ahead of a w

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, dividend investors have had a rough old time of it. Quoted company after quoted company has cut or cancelled the shareholder reward.Against this backdrop the investment trust sector has acted as a partial safe haven. Income seekers have long been attracted to investment trusts. Their ability to keep some dividend income aside during good times has helped t

Income is a big motivating factor for people to invest in the markets. The idea of securing a regular stream of cash which can be used to pay the bills or reinvested to help boost capital returns is an attractive one.However, this income is not guaranteed and the last two months or so of dividend cuts, suspensions and deferrals have seen billions of pounds worth of payouts from UK stocks taken off