Overview
Monks Investment Trust aims for long-term capital growth which takes priority over income. This is pursued through applying a patient approach to investment, principally from a differentiated, actively managed global equity portfolio containing a diversified range of growth stocks.
“We are drawn to businesses addressing a particular ‘crisis’ in a novel manner which can help to reduce costs and/or produce a radically improved quality of service.” – Malcolm MacColl, co-manager.
The fund’s website is available here
Fundamentals
Price
Research History
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13 Oct 2022 14 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Quarterly Review – Third Quarter 2022
Third quarter of 2022 Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Piling on the misery In the face of rising inflation, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, central bankers have condemned for their relative inaction. However, in the third quarter of 2022, they stepped up a gear. Last month’s economic and political roundup […]
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10 Jan 2020 8 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – January 2020
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Polar Capital and Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you […]
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05 Jul 2019 6 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – July 2019
Economic & Political Roundup A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the […]
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18 Jul 2018 2 min read
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – Second Quarter 2018
QUARTERLY INVESTMENT COMPANIES ROUNDUP – SECOND QUARTER 2018 Global equities markets rose in the second quarter of 2018, Markets were volatile, as positive economic data and encouraging company performances played off against geopolitical concerns. Yields from bond markets rose early in the quarter but fell back as investors turned to ‘safer’ investments. The threat of […]
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11 Jul 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – July 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – July 2018 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of June 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. July Investment Companies Roundup Money raised and returned in June Newcomer to the market, Yew Grove […]
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1 min read
QuotedData’s Economic round up – July 2018
QuotedData’s Economic round up – July 2018 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or […]
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11 Jun 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – June 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – June 2018 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of May 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. The premium of biotech company, Syncona, rose on positive news on two of its […]
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25 Apr 2018 1 min read
Quarterly investment companies roundup – First quarter 2018
Quarterly investment companies roundup – First quarter 2018 Quarterly investment companies roundup – First quarter 2018 – Global equity markets declined in the first quarter of 2018. Concerns about US interest rate rises were the feature of the first half of the quarter. However, worries about global trade took over in the second part, particularly […]
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12 Jul 2017 2 min read
QuotedData’s economic round up – July 2017
QuotedData’s economic round up – July 2017 – is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or […]
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10 Apr 2017 1 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – April 2017
Our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of February 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. April Investment Companies Roundup
News
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23 Sep 2025 1 min read
Monks manager Spencer Adair to retire from Baillie Gifford
Spencer Adair, lead fund manager of Monks (MNKS) investment trust since 2021, will retire after 26 years with investment group Baillie Gifford next March. Although his four years at the helm of the £2.5bn global fund have been tough with the group’s growth style falling out of favour, the shares have recently surpassed their 2021 […]
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09 Sep 2025 2 min read
Trust Spot: Seraphim selloff puzzle and renewables discounts open up again
Cheaper trusts Looking at August’s biggest discount shifts, Seraphim Space (SSIT) appeared to plunge from a 14.7% discount to a 29.0% discount over the month. Today, the discount stands at 31.5%. At first glance, the reason for this is hard to fathom. Andrew McHattie mentioned the trust on the show on Friday (13:07) – highlighting […]
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22 Aug 2025 4 min read
Lessons from a life in trusts: Peter Hewitt
If you’ve been following QuotedData for a while, you’ll recognise Peter Hewitt from the many interviews that we’ve done with him over the years. As he retires from Columbia Threadneedle, we asked Cherry Reynard to capture some of his thoughts on the sector. The investment trust sector has some well-documented challenges: from arbitrageurs to discounts, […]
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02 Jul 2025 4 min read
Monks chairman reflects on another year of underperformance
Monks Investment Trust has published results covering the 12 months ended 30 April 2025. The trust was doing reasonably well ahead of ‘Liberation Day’ in early April. However, it was caught up in the resulting sell off and finished the year with an NAV return of just 0.1%. The discount widened from 8.5% to 10.1%, […]
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23 May 2025 12 min read
An opportunity for reflection and discussion: Inside Baillie Gifford’s Investment Trust Conference
This time last week I was at Baillie Gifford’s Investment Trust Conference in Edinburgh – a two-day event, held every three years, that sees Baillie Gifford playing host to around 250 professionals from the world of investment companies. The event provides a useful forum to discuss the latest developments in the sector. However, we also […]
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06 Dec 2024 5 min read
Beyond NVIDIA: investing across the semiconductor ecosystem
The world runs on computer chips, and our appetite for them is only increasing. Discover how Monks Investment Trust has invested in some of the big names and lesser-known players in the industry. As with any investment, your capital is at risk. You’re surrounded. From your washing machine and smartphone to your car and microwave […]
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04 Dec 2024 3 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 4 December 2024 – ARR, SEIT, PNL, MNKS, INOV
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 4 December 2024: Aurora UK Alpha (ARR) announced that following the proposed combination with Artemis Alpha Trust, it has changed its name to Aurora UK Alpha plc. The company will continue to trade under the ticker ARR. SDCL Energy Efficiency Income (SEIT) announced its interim results for the six months to […]
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22 Nov 2024 3 min read
MAGA or TINA, the only way is up?
The problem with Trump’s use of the phrase “MAGA” – Make America Great Again – is that it implies America wasn’t already great. With its booming equity markets, robust economic growth, and strong fundamentals – such as energy independence, deep pools of domestic capital, and the inherent advantages of the US dollar’s reserve currency status […]
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08 Nov 2024 4 min read
Why growth investors can’t ignore China
From futuristic cars to greener energy, Chinese firms are advancing and creating long-term value for their shareholders. Baillie Gifford investment manager Helen Xiong explains why long-term growth investors ignore China at their peril. As with any investment, capital is at risk. China matters. It’s the world’s second-largest economy, an important source of global demand and has […]
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02 Jul 2024 2 min read
Optimism growing as Monks delivers strong gains
Monks Investment Trust (MNKS) announced its annual results for the year end 30 April 2024. The company delivered a NAV total return of 17.6%. The share price total return was +19.1%, inline with the benchmark return of +19.1%. The manager noted that the second half of the year provided much stronger returns than the first […]
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14 Jun 2024 3 min read
Baillie Gifford funds – Think different
QD view: The overlap between the portfolios of Baillie Gifford’s range of global investment trusts is limited, yet investors are treating them as quite narrow variations on a theme and this is throwing up opportunities for those able to appreciate the nuances within the range. It has undoubtedly been a difficult period for the Baillie […]
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03 May 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 3rd May 2024
Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live or on YouTube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: • Aberforth Split Level Income (0:33) • Chrysalis (6:24) Andrew McHattie highlighted a number of funds that were looking unusually cheap or expensive (10:24). This week’s interview […]
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23 Jun 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 23rd June 2023
Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live, on Facebook or on YouTube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: • Civitas Social Housing (0:33) • abrdn Diversified Income & Growth (4:03) • Monks (13:34) This week’s interview was with Jonathan Hick from Triple Point […]
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20 Jun 2023 2 min read
Struggles continue for Monks Investment Trust
Monks Investment Trust (MNKS), which in August 2022 announced it was combining with The Independent Investment Trust, released its annual report for the year ended April 2023. During the year the NAV total return was -1.6%. The share price total return was -7.0%, while the World Index returned +3.2%. This follows on from last year’s […]
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12 Aug 2022 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 12th August 2022
Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live, on Facebook or on YouTube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: • Independent/Monks • BioPharmaCredit • Trian Investors 1 This week’s interview was with David Smith of Henderson High Income – watch it again here.
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2 min read
QD view – meaningful mergers
Earlier this week the board of the Independent Investment Trust (IIT) announced plans to merge the company with Baillie Gifford’s Monks Investment Trust (MNKS). IIT’s shareholders can opt for a full cash realisation or choose to have their money rolled over into Monks (so would not be subject to capital gains tax), which follows similar […]
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09 Aug 2022 3 min read
Independent and Monks combine forces
The board of The Independent Investment Trust has agreed heads of terms with the board of Monks Investment Trust to combine the companies by way of a scheme of reconstruction under Section 110 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and a voluntary winding up of Independent. Independent shareholders will be able to elect either to receive […]
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21 Jun 2022 2 min read
Monks investors pray for performance recovery
Monks Investment Trust has reported results for the year ended 30 April 2022 and these show the effect of the selloff in growth style investments. Over the period, the NAV total return was -18.9% compared to a total return of +6.1% for the World Index. The share price total return for the same period was […]
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18 Jun 2021 5 min read
Monks outperformance driven by strong fundamentals
Monks (MNKS) has announced its annual results for the year ended 30 April 2021, during which its chairman, Karl Sternberg, says that strong fundamentals drove impressive increases in revenues across a range of portfolio holdings. During the year, MNKS provided an NAV total return of 55.5%, and a share price total return of 53.1%. Both […]
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06 Aug 2020 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 August 2020
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 August 2020: VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity has completed its sale of its stake in International Dairy Products. The fund shares $45.4m with its co-investment partner Daiwa PI Partners. All in, this deal added 14 cents to the NAV but this is already in the NAV (has been reflected there since 10 July). […]
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17 Jun 2020 2 min read
E-commerce and tech-enabled holdings carry the baton for Monks
Over the year to 30 April 2020, global growth trust, Monks (MNKS), delivered an NAV total return of 3.4% compared , which compares with (1.0%) for the FTSE World Index. The market return for the same period was 3.7%. Over the year, MNKS used its premium to NAV valuation to grow the fund, with an issuance equivalent […]
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12 Jun 2019 4 min read
Monks outperforms again as Douglas McDougall bows out
Monks outperforms again as Douglas McDougall bows out – Monks beat its benchmark over the year to the end of April 2019, returning 12.0% in NAV terms against 11.7% for the World Index. The share price total return for the same period was 12.7%. A single final dividend of 1.85p is being recommended, compared to 1.40p last year. […]
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12 Mar 2018 1 min read
Monks tinkers with management fee
Monks tinkers with management fee – The Board of The Monks Investment Trust has announced a change in the calculation of the company’s management fee, with the introduction of a further stepped tier at GBP1.75bn of total assets*. With effect from 1 May 2018 the annual management fee payable to the Company’s Investment Managers and Secretaries, […]
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31 Jul 2017 3 min read
Better year for Growth pool in F&C Managed Portfolio
Better year for Growth pool in F&C Managed Portfolio – F&C Managed Portfolio has published results for the year ended 31 May 2017. The NAV total return (i.e. adding dividends paid to capital performance) was 24.5% for the Income shares and 26.4% for the Growth shares. This compares with the 24.5% total return for the All-Share […]
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26 Jun 2017 3 min read
Great year for Monks as seven holdings more than double
Great year for Monks as seven holdings more than double. Over the year to 30 April 2017, Monks’ net asset value total return was 40.0% compared to a total return of 31.0% for the World Index (in sterling terms). The share price total return for the same period was 53.9%, with the discount narrowing to 0.6%. The one […]
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27 Mar 2017 1 min read
Monks adopts tiered fee
The Board of The Monks Investment Trust has announced a change in the calculation of its management fee, with the introduction of a second tier and the calculation to be based on total assets (the total value of all assets held less all liabilities, other than any liability in the form of debt intended for investment […]
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07 Dec 2016 1 min read
Monks performance improvement continues
Over the six months to the end of October 2016, Monks’ net asset value total return was 25.3%, beating the World Index which returned 23.6%. The share price total return for the same period was 27.5%, with the discount to NAV* narrowing to 8.0%. They say that the biggest positive contributors to performance were technology stocks: US […]
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08 Jun 2016 1 min read
Monks lags its benchmark
Monks lagged its benchmark a little over the year to 30 April 2016 – the first year that a new investment team, led by Charles Plowden, has been in charge of the portfolio. Monks’ net asset value total return was minus 0.4% compared to a total return of 0.5% for the FTSE World Index (in sterling […]
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02 Dec 2015 2 min read
Monks mild outperformance driven by a diverse range of stocks
Monks Investment Trust has announced its interim results for the six months ended 31 October 2015. Over the period, the company’s NAV lost 3.5% in total return terms, modestly outperforming the FTSE World Index which lost 4.3% (all in sterling terms). Reflecting a modest widening of the discount during the period, the share price total […]
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04 Jun 2015 1 min read
Monks’ performance disappoints but new portfolio now in place
Monks has published results for the 12 months ended 30 April 2015. In the year to 30 April 2015, the net asset value total return, with borrowings at fair value, was 13.0% and the share price total return was 18.8% as the discount narrowed. The total return of the FTSE World Index in sterling terms […]
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27 Mar 2015 1 min read
Gerald Smith replaced as manager of Monks
The Board of Monks has announced changes to the management of that fund. Gerald Smith is being replaced by Charles Plowden and he will be assisted by Spencer Adair and Malcolm MacColl as new deputy managers. The announcement says the change takes place with immediate effect. The Trust will now be managed from Baillie Gifford’s […]
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03 Dec 2014 2 min read
Monks too light in US
MNKS : Monks too light in US Monks has published its interim results covering the six month period to the end of October 2014. Over this time the fund generated a return on net assets of 4.9% and a return to shareholders of 5.3% – lagging the return on the FTSE World Index of 8.0% […]
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11 Jun 2014 1 min read
Monks Investment Trust : MNKS – final results
Monks Investment Trust has published its results for the year that ended 30 April 2014. Over the year the fund delivered a total return on net assets of 5.2% which compares to a return on the fund’s benchmark index, the FTSE World Index, of 6.8%. The return to shareholders 5.4%. Dividends for the year were unchanged […]
Upcoming Events
In The Press
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08 Aug 2025 1 min read
The most popular stocks in the most popular global funds
by Holly McKechnie, Investors Chronicle, August 8, 2025: Global equity trusts have had to sustain a number of shocks so far this year, from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs to the launch of DeepSeek AI in January. However, on the whole performance for this group has been relatively strong over the past six months, with […]
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23 Jul 2025 1 min read
The investment trusts reaping the rewards of cheap debt
by Val Cipriani, Investors Chronicle, July 23, 2025: The ability to use debt to ‘gear’ a portfolio is one of the key features that differentiate investment trusts from their open-ended counterparts. Some trusts had even locked in interest rates as low as 1.8 per cent before the market turned three years ago, boosting returns when […]
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04 Jun 2025 1 min read
Should you buy, hold or fold Monks Investment Trust
By Patrick Sanders, Reporter, Trustnet, 04 June 2025 Investors should not give up on the Monks Investment Trust despite a wobbly past half decade, according to market commentators, although there is a split on whether now is a good buying opportunity or if investors should just stand pat. Monks Investment Trust is one of the […]
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24 Feb 2025 1 min read
Investment trust insider on Monks
Investment trust insider on Monks – James Carthew: Why I’m top slicing Monks Our columnist reveals why he is taking profits from one of his largest investment trust holdings, which he views as a less racy version of stablemate Scottish Mortgage. They say that markets climb a wall of worry, and the evidence suggests that […]
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18 Nov 2024 1 min read
It’s time to bag an investment trust bargain – our experts reveal the ones they’d pick right now
By ROSIE MURRAY-WEST, Mail on Sunday, 17 November 2024: Everybody loves a good discount and that’s exactly what is being offered to buyers of investment trusts. These stock market-listed investment companies offer access to a world of tempting portfolios, from handpicked selections of UK shares to clusters of shares in income-generating renewable energy firms. Investment […]
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17 Jul 2024 2 min read
Baillie Gifford’s Monks Investment Trust dials down racy stocks
by Val Cipriani, Investors Chronicle, July 17, 2024: Baillie Gifford has dialled down the risk in its global investment trust, Monks Investment Trust (MNKS), in an attempt to turn around poor numbers – but all of the company’s global strategies are still some way off recovering from the 2022 rout. Despite posting better numbers in […]
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08 Mar 2024 1 min read
The truly cheap trusts trading on the widest discount relative to their history
By Matteo Anelli, Senior reporter, Trustnet, 07 March 2024: In the investment trusts universe wide discounts are often linked to higher long-term returns – and the data backs up this hypothesis. Since 2018, investing in trusts with a double-digit discount have returned an annualised 13.6% in the following five years, a recent study by the […]
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06 Feb 2024 1 min read
The funds to pair with, or replace, Scottish Mortgage in your portfolio
By Jean-Baptiste Andrieux, Reporter, Trustnet, 06 February 2024: Scottish Mortgage seems to be back on investors’ radars, as they project central banks to start cutting rates at some point this year – boosting the growth-heavy portfolio… The Baillie Gifford’s flagship investment trust has struggled since central banks started their hiking cycle, but falling interest rates […]
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11 Aug 2023 1 min read
How to find the real investment trust bargains
Kyle Caldwell, interactive investor, 10 Aug 2023: This episode of On The Money is inspired by interactive investor readers requesting a closer look at investment trust discounts. Kyle is joined by James Carthew, co-founder and head of investment company research at QuotedData, to tackle the topic, including how to spot a good opportunity and how […]
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14 Jul 2023 1 min read
The Baillie Gifford trusts worth backing
By Jean-Baptiste Andrieux, Reporter, Trustnet, 13 July 2023: Edinburgh-based investment firm Baillie Gifford had a dreadful time in 2022, with none of its 49 funds and trusts making a positive return. Baillie Gifford’s funds rose to prominence and were popular among investors as their strong tilt towards growth blossomed the low interest rate environment of […]
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28 Mar 2023 1 min read
Investment trust share buybacks: do they benefit private investors?
by Faith Glasgow from interactive investor, 28th March 2023: Share buybacks are used by investment trust boards to reduce the number of shares in circulation, as a mechanism for controlling the trust’s share price discount to net asset value (NAV)… But how far does that work in practice?.. A recent report by broker Numis notes […]
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27 Mar 2023 1 min read
Is it time to sell Scottish Mortgage?
David Brenchley, The Sunday Times, Sunday March 26 2023: A boardroom bust-up and the resignation of its chairwoman has compounded issues at Scottish Mortgage, the UK’s second-largest investment trust whose shares have more than halved in 16 months… What happened? A row erupted on March 17 when in remarks made to the Financial Times, Amar […]
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15 Feb 2023 1 min read
ISA ideas: alternatives to the most-popular funds and trusts
by Jennifer Hill from interactive investor, 15 February 2023: We ask a range of experts for potential fund substitutes for funds and trusts consistently high in demand, including Scottish Mortgage, Fundsmith Equity, City of London, and Vanguard LifeStrategy. Investing can be a fickle business as money follows the latest trend but analysis of the most-bought […]
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23 Sep 2022 2 min read
What should I do when my fund manager departs?
James Crux, Shares Magazine, 22 September 2022: On 5 September, asset manager Abrdn (ABDN) announced that veteran and very successful fund manager Harry Nimmo will retire… When a fund manager who has forged a particularly strong track record exits stage left, it is tempting to immediately sell your fund units or investment trust shares. However, […]
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15 Nov 2021 2 min read
The alternative trusts allowing investors to capture new trends
Investment trusts enjoy record year for fundraising as they back a new wave of innovation November 11, 2021, Investors Chronicle, By Mary McDougall Investment trust fundraising amounted to £11.4bn in the first 10 months of the year, a record for the ancient fund structure which is now financing a new wave of innovation. Most striking is the […]
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19 Jul 2021 1 min read
The investment trusts readers have been studying
The surprising investment trusts Trustnet readers have started researching By Rory Palmer, Reporter, Trustnet 16 July 2021 Baillie Gifford has dominated the most-researched investment trusts by readers in 2021 but previously unheralded names such as Geiger Counter, Miton UK MicroCap and Canadian General Investments have seen the greatest surge, according to the latest figures. Comparing page […]
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31 Mar 2020 1 min read
Investment trust insider bargain hunting in the crash
Investment trust insider bargain hunting in the crash – James Carthew: three trusts I bought in the Covid-19 crash Many investors, especially those reliant on the income from their portfolios, will have been looking on nervously as markets see-saw and the economy grinds to a halt. For most of the past few weeks I have sat […]
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03 Jan 2019 1 min read
Investment Trust Insider on Monks Investment Trust
Investment Trust Insider on Monks Investment Trust – James Carthew: I’m made up by Monks’ makeover It is three years since I last wrote about Monks (MNKS) investment trust. Back then, the triumvirate of Charles Plowden, Spencer Adair and Malcom MacColl had only recently taken on responsibility for the trust and started running it in-line with […]
