“Market mispricing AI risk”

During periods of global market uncertainty, the companies held by Lindsell Train Investment Trust (LTI) and its manager, Lindsell Train Limited (LTL), have tended to perform well as investors seek durable and resilient cash flows. Whilst some holdings – particularly those in the consumer staple sector – have proven defensive amid volatility linked to the Iran war, growing fears around the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on software and data businesses has hit LTI and LTL hard.

This has been particularly acute at portfolio holding RELX. LTL argues that the market’s assessment is wrong. In sectors such as legal and financial, the cost of error is extremely high, and regulatory barriers make the datasets valuable and essential for the successful application of AI tools. Reflecting this, LTI used market weakness to initiate a position in US credit scoring giant FICO (which was already held in LTL’s Global strategy) in February.

Whilst funds under management at LTL have continued to fall, the company has launched a new $200m strategy focused on international equities, seeded by its substantial cash pile and a longstanding client.

Maximise returns over the long-term

LTI aims to maximise total returns over the long term, while preserving shareholders’ capital. It invests in a concentrated portfolio of global equities that it has identified as market-leading and that benefit from high returns on equity. It also invests in a range of Lindsell Train-managed funds and the unlisted security of its investment manager, Lindsell Train Limited.

Year ended Share price total return (%) NAV total return (%) MSCI World Index TR (%)
30/04/2022 (11.5) (4.2) 6.4
30/04/2023 (10.9) 10.1 3.1
30/04/2024 (19.5) 1.8 18.8
30/04/2025 10.7 12.2 5.1
30/04/2026 (23.6) (17.7) 27.0
Source: Bloomberg, Marten & Co

Fund profile

Concentrated portfolio of 13 global equity stocks plus Lindsell Train funds

Lindsell Train Investment Trust (LTI) aims to deliver long-term total returns while preserving the real value of capital. It invests in a concentrated portfolio of 13 global “heritage” companies, alongside selected Lindsell Train funds and a stake in its manager, Lindsell Train Limited (LTL). The LTL management fee for LT managed funds and other funds that LTL manages are rebated back to LTI, so as to avoid double charging of fees.

As of March 2026, global equities made up 62.4% of NAV, with look-through exposure to 49 holdings. The trust is benchmarked against the MSCI World Index (in sterling) but is managed independently, with an active share close to 100%. LTI was launched in 2001 and is listed on the premium segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange. LTI’s board of directors is the company’s AIFM and receives no remuneration for doing so.

Investment approach

LTL focuses on holding a small number of high-conviction, high-quality companies for the long term. It believes concentration can reduce risk more effectively than broad diversification. These businesses typically have durable competitive advantages and long histories (average age of LTI’s direct equity holdings of around 147 years).

Symbiotic relationship with LTL

LTI has a symbiotic relationship with LTL, helping seed new funds and benefitting from their growth. Its initial £66,000 investment in LTL grew significantly and stood at £28.2m (as at the end of March 2026), peaking at 48% of NAV in 2021 before declining to 19.8% by March 2026 due to weaker performance and reduced assets under management.

Market backdrop

War in Iran has heightened global geopolitical uncertainty

Global market uncertainty has heightened with the war in Iran intensifying geopolitical tension and upending a global economic recovery. Growth expectations have been lowered on the back of the energy price shock and re-accelerating inflation, with central banks being forced to shelve rate cutting plans as a higher-for-longer interest rate backdrop emerges.

At the same time, investors are also evaluating how artificial intelligence (AI) could reshape entire industries and sectors, distinguishing between likely beneficiaries and those at risk of disruption.

Markets have become highly event-driven and volatile, with concerns about inflation, oil prices, interest rates, and geopolitics all affecting sentiment. The impact of the uncertainty caused by both unstable geopolitics and the threat posed by AI has been great on LTI and LTL’s portfolios. We look at both here.

Geopolitical tension

Defensive stocks back in focus

The war in Iran and wider instability in the Middle East has brought defensive stocks back into focus. While energy, defence/aerospace and selective commodity stocks have made substantial gains, other safe haven sectors, including banking, have also benefitted. LTL’s consumer staples exposure has likewise proven relatively resilient in recent months. Within LTI’s portfolio, beauty and personal care giant Unilever was up double-digits in the year before it was reported that it was selling its food business in March (which we detail on page 9). Meanwhile, snacks behemoth Mondelez and soft drinks manufacturer AG Barr were both up in the weeks following the outbreak of war.

All four boast long-term track records of durable and growing revenues and should continue to reliably compound for years and decades to come. In the last period of significant market volatility – at the start of 2025 when tariff uncertainty and the DeepSeek large language model (LLM) launched – LTI and LTL’s portfolio held up relatively well, while tech-dominated indices, including the S&P 500 and NASDAQ faltered. This is illustrated in Figure 1, which shows LTI’s NAV return relative to the MSCI World Index.

Figure 1: LTI NAV total return relative to the MSCI World Index1

Source: Bloomberg, Marten & Co. Note 1) rebased to 100 at 31 December 2024

The benefits of its defensive positioning were not quite as pronounced in the aftermath of the start of the war in Iran this year, coming at a time when a number of LTL’s data businesses were caught up in the widespread software sell-off.

Software sell-off

Data businesses suffered large sell-off

Following the launch by Anthropic of industry specific plugins for Claude Cowork in January – targeting particular verticals such as legal and finance – a period of indiscriminate selling of data and digital platform businesses ensued. The concern is that cheap AI tools may soon commoditise data provision altogether or at least impact future growth prospects.

A number of LTI and LTL’s holdings were caught up in this, not least London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and RELX.

LTL believes that the market has misjudged both companies, underestimating the long-term value of the datasets on which the new AI models depend. In sectors such as legal, risk, financial, and medical, the cost of error is extremely high, while much of the underlying data is protected by clear physical and regulatory barriers, meaning a significant proportion remains entirely unavailable to large language models (LLMs). As a result, trusted, accurate, reference-grade data should remain valuable even as AI tools become more widely adopted.

Figure 2: RELX (GBP)

Source: Bloomberg

RELX, which provides services to the global scientific, legal and insurance industries, already offers similar AI-enabled workflow tools. LTL argues that, whilst new AI applications are being developed, the value is less likely to accrue to the models themselves but more to the owners of the datasets upon which they rely. Both RELX and LSEG possess clear data moats. RELX, for example, has amassed over 100 billion legal documents and grows this data daily – the vast majority of which contain proprietary content. This legal data is rarely more than 1%-2% of a law firm’s cost base, LTL estimates. However, it is critical to their function and does not seem an obvious target for cost savings.

LTL believes that investors have overly discounted the long-term earnings potential of these and other data businesses, creating a buying opportunity. As such, LTI has recently initiated a position in US credit-scoring giant FICO (which we detail on page 10).

Investment process

Investment universe of 150 companies

LTL operates within a small universe of potential investments, typically no more than 150 companies, due to its strict focus on heritage businesses with predictable earnings (supported by pricing power and/or intellectual property), low capital intensity and sustainably high returns on capital. As a result, LTI has maintained a highly concentrated portfolio since its launch in 2001, averaging around 15 holdings (currently 13).

Most qualifying companies tend to fall into a limited number of broad sectors:

  • Consumer branded goods;
  • Internet, media, software; and
  • Financials and networks.

Bottom-up approach without reference to benchmark

The portfolio is constructed on a purely “bottom-up” basis, with no reference to benchmarks. Each potential investment undergoes a rigorous due diligence process (sometimes lasting several years) including meetings with management and detailed industry analysis.

Valuation is assessed using multiple methods. Whilst LTL does not rely on traditionally constructed discounted cash flow (DCF) models, its approach shares many of its core principles, particularly in focusing on the long-term sustainability of returns of a company. Companies identified as offering the best value are selected for inclusion in the portfolio.

ESG integration

Signatory of UN Principles for Responsible Investment

LTI’s manager is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, the UK Stewardship Code, and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. It actively engages with portfolio companies on ESG issues, including climate change, and measures portfolio-level carbon emissions, footprint (tCO₂e/$m invested), and intensity (tCO₂e/$m sales) to assess exposure to climate-related risks.

LTL believes that companies with strong ESG standards are likely to be more durable and deliver superior long-term returns. Accordingly, ESG analysis is embedded in the investment process and covers environmental factors (including climate change), social, governance (including remuneration and capital allocation), as well as cyber resilience, responsible data use, human rights, anti-corruption, and reputational risks.

ESG factors influence portfolio decisions

Where ESG factors are expected to materially affect long-term prospects, they are incorporated into valuation assumptions, particularly long-term growth rates, and influence portfolio decisions, including whether to initiate, hold, or exit positions.

Consistent with its philosophy, LTL avoids:

capital-intensive sectors such as energy, commodities, and mining, including companies involved in coal, oil, or gas extraction; and

industries considered socially harmful or exposed to regulatory or litigation risk, such as tobacco, gambling, and arms manufacturing.

Active engagement with company management on ESG and stewardship issues is a core part of the strategy. Whilst generally supportive of management, LTL will seek to influence decisions where it disagrees with company actions.

Investment policy and restrictions

LTI can invest globally across a broad range of financial assets, including equities (listed and unlisted), bonds, funds and cash, with no sector or geographic constraints. Individual holdings are limited to 15% of gross assets. It may also invest up to 25% in LTL-managed funds (subject to board approval) and may retain holdings in LTL to benefit from its long-term growth.

The company does not invest for control purposes and will not allocate more than 15% of gross assets to other closed-ended investment funds.

Exits

Low single-digit portfolio turnover rate

LTL maintains a low single-digit portfolio turnover rate, with LTI’s turnover even lower. Investments are typically held for the long term, reflecting its conviction in the value of owning high-quality businesses over extended periods.

Positions are reduced or exited only for compelling reasons, such as a share price exceeding intrinsic value, or erosion of competitive advantages.

Long-term holding avoids transaction fees

This long-term approach minimises transaction costs, which the manager views as a drag on capital, and requires patience and discipline to look beyond short-term market noise. Exit decisions may also be influenced by the availability of alternative opportunities with stronger upside potential, with the manager typically identifying two or three vetted candidates at any given time.

Asset allocation

Figure 3: Breakdown of LTI’s portfolio at 31 March 2026

Source: Lindsell Train Investment Trust

Figure 4: LTI portfolio by location of underlying revenue at 30 Sept 20251

Source: Lindsell Train Investment Trust. Note 1) On a look-through basis, aggregating direct holdings with indirect holdings held by LTL funds

At 31 March 2026, more than 60% of LTI’s portfolio value was invested in global equities, with LTL making up almost 20%. Over a third of underlying portfolio revenue originated from the US (on a look-through basis including positions in LTL), while Europe accounted for a quarter of revenues and the UK just over a fifth.

Figure 5: LTI holdings at 31 March 2026

Stock/holding Sector As at 31/03/26 (%) As at 30/09/25 (%) Change (%)
Lindsell Train Limited (LTL) Unlisted security 19.8 24.4 (4.6)
London Stock Exchange Group Financials 14.4 11.3 3.1
Lindsell Train North American Equity Fund LTL managed fund 13.5 12.2 1.3
Nintendo Communication services 11.1 14.0 (2.9)
RELX Industrials 6.4 7.4 (1.0)
A.G. Barr Consumer staples 4.7 4.0 0.7
Unilever Consumer staples 4.6 5.0 (0.4)
Diageo Consumer staples 4.2 4.4 (0.2)
Thermo Fisher Scientific Healthcare 3.2 2.5 0.7
Mondelez International Consumer staples 3.0 3.3 (0.3)
Universal Music Group Communication services 2.6 3.1 (0.5)
Heineken Consumer staples 2.4 2.1 0.3
PayPal Financials 2.2 2.6 (0.4)
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc Financials 2.1 2.1 0.0
Laurent-Perrier Consumer staples 2.0 1.7 0.3
FICO Financials 1.7 – 1.7
Cash & equivalent – 2.1 0.2 1.9
Source: Lindsell Train Investment Trust, Marten & Co

We have covered many of LTI’s holdings in previous notes (links to which can be found on page 19). Here we cover some important events among portfolio companies, as well as update on LTL.

Universal Music Group (UMG)

Figure 6: UMG (EUR)

Source: Bloomberg

We explained LTL’s investment rationale for UMG, which it bought into at the end of 2023, in detail in our initiation note and the manager says that this has not changed. Its belief that the Euronext Amsterdam-listed company was vastly undervalued has been proven by a £48bn bid for the company by Pershing Square Capital Management. Announced earlier this month, the deal values UMG’s shares at €25 compared to its previous closing price of €17.05.

If it goes ahead, shareholders in UMG will receive €9.4bn in cash and 0.77 new UMG shares as part of the deal, which would see UMG merge with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, the special purpose vehicle established four years ago to make a large acquisition, and list on the New York stock exchange. Under the transaction, 17% of UMG shares will be bought back and cancelled while preserving the company’s investment grade balance sheet, and a new dividend policy may also be adopted.

UMG’s shares have been depressed since listing in 2021, with concerns over French conglomerate Bolloré Group’s 18% stake, the postponement of UMG’s US listing, under-utilisation of its balance sheet, and the threat of AI deepfakes on music industry revenues weighing on performance.

The LTL team believes that that whilst AI can generate huge volumes of music-like content, it does not change the value of real, established, and in-demand catalogues. UMG’s ownership of major music rights, where it controls roughly a third of the world’s recorded music (ahead of the other two major players Sony and Warner), puts it in a strong position to push for better pricing from streaming platforms such as Spotify, it adds.

The payout model currently used by the platforms – based on a simple pro-rata share of listening – is expected to improve and evolve allowing for minimum payments or fixed-value arrangements tied to the worth of catalogues. This would give UMG leverage to force platforms to absorb higher content costs or raise their own subscription prices. Changes would likely take time to flow through because UMG needs to align terms across multiple streaming partners, the manager says, but the direction of travel is positive.

Unilever

Figure 7: Unilever (GBP)

Source: Bloomberg

FTSE 100 conglomerate Unilever has been a long-term holding for LTL and a consistent presence in LTI’s portfolio. Last month, the group announced it had reached a deal to sell its food business to spice maker McCormick, creating a $66bn company with $20bn of annual revenues.

As part of the cash-and-stock transaction, Unilever shareholders will own 65% of the combined group, with McCormick owning the remaining 35%. Unilever will also receive $15.7bn of cash from McCormick under the deal terms. It has been structured as a so-called Reverse Morris Trust, which allows the parent company (Unilever) to minimise its tax liabilities on the disposal if it retains a majority stake in the divested enterprise.

Unilever says that the deal, which is expected to complete by mid-2027 subject to McCormick shareholder approval, will transform the company from a multi-category conglomerate into a more focused, pureplay beauty and personal care company. The division accounts for a large portion of group revenues and is seen as faster-growing sectors.

Unilever has been pivoting away from food over the past decade to focus on beauty and wellbeing categories – last year spinning-off its Magnum ice cream holding into an independent entity.

Shareholders reacted negatively towards the McCormick deal, with its share price falling heavily since first being reported in March. LTI had reduced its position in Unilever earlier in the year, before the price weakened. The manager believes that the greater attraction of Unilever’s household and personal care portfolio has put selling pressure on the remains of Unilever’s food business. It thinks that it is this, rather than the merits of the deal, that has negatively impacted Unilever’s share price.

FICO

Figure 8: FICO (USD)

Figure 8 FICO (USD)
Source: Bloomberg

Partly funded by the exit of Unilever’s Magnum ice cream business noted above, LTI initiated a 2% holding in US-listed credit scoring giant FICO in February. It has been a constituent of LTL’s global equity portfolio since 2022, and the manager took advantage of share price weakness linked to the perceived threat from AI to add to its position.

FICO has two core businesses: the credit scores segment and the software arm. LTL notes that much of FICO’s growth has come from pricing power, with significant further room to raise prices after decades of undercharging. It believes that the scores business still has a large growth runway ahead of it, with opportunities to increase pricing and tweak its charging model, as well as capturing more of the value chain. Meanwhile, the software business’s shift to a new cloud-based platform has presented it with greater opportunities to cross-sell its risk and fraud prevention services.

LTL believes the AI disruption fears are misplaced in FICO’s case due to the sensitivity and protection given to the underlying bureau data and the regulatory burden around the scores themselves.

Diageo

Figure 9: Diageo (GBP)

Source: Bloomberg

A major recent development at drinks giant Diageo was the announcement of the halving of its dividend. New chief executive Dave Lewis said the company had taken the decision to reduce the pay-out in order to strengthen its balance sheet and drive long-term growth.

Lewis had been appointed earlier this year to turnaround the ailing company, which owns some of the best-selling premium spirit brands globally but has suffered a collapse in its share price since its peak in 2021. The dollar-based company declared an interim dividend of 20 cents per share in half-year results, down from 40.5 cents. Going forward, it said it would target paying 30-50% of earnings with a minimum annual dividend of 50 cents.

LTL says that it supports the dividend cut, providing it helps protect the balance sheet and avoids more damaging actions like selling valuable assets. Whilst acknowledging the disappointment, it believes that the core long-term strengths of the business remain intact: strong brands, durable market positions, and growth potential in markets such as India.

Diageo’s share price weakness has been exacerbated recently, with the company being uniquely hit by Trump’s tariffs, as a significant portion of its products are imported into the US from Mexico and Canada. Another concern for shareholders stems from the fact that people are drinking less. The manager says that the data points to a more nuanced story, however.

LTL

LTI’s performance is still largely determined by that of its largest exposure, LTL, which at the end of March 2026 accounted for 19.8% of the portfolio, down from 24.5% six months earlier. LTL has experienced substantial investor outflows in recent years. Funds under management (FUM) at LTL have fallen to £9.8bn in September 2025, from a peak of £24.3bn in July 2021. Annual management fees make up almost 99% of LTL’s total revenues and 80% of net profits are paid to shareholders in dividends, meaning that the contribution made by LTL to LTI’s revenues remains considerable.

One positive development amid declining FUM is the recent launch of a new international strategy (EAFE) focused on the developed world excluding the US, which complements LTL’s four existing strategies spanning global, UK, Japan and North American equities. LTL says that this strategy has been under consideration for some time, but current market valuations and growing demand for international equities made the timing particularly compelling.

Alongside the establishment of an International LLC (funded with balance sheet capital) a longstanding client also seeded the strategy through two segregated mandates. As a result, the strategy has launched with over $200m in AUM. The strategy will be co-managed by James Bullock and Ben van Leeuwen (profiles of whom can be found on page 16).

Performance

Direct comparisons with benchmarks and the global investment companies peer group are difficult to make due to LTI’s unique investment policy and the concentrated nature of its portfolio. Figure 10 shows that LTI’s NAV has fallen sharply over the past year relative to both its peer group and the MSCI World Index, as FUM at LTL has fallen further and sentiment towards its software holdings was hit by AI disruption fears.

Figure 10: LTI NAV total return performance relative to benchmark and peer group1

Source: Bloomberg, Marten & Co. Note 1) peer group is defined on below.

Despite the poor performance over five years, LTI’s 10-year NAV total return is still greater than both the peer group and the benchmark, as shown in Figure 11, reflecting the exceptional contribution of LTL in prior years.

Figure 11: Cumulative total return performance over periods ending 30 April 2026

6 months (%) 1 year (%) 3 years (%) 5 years (%) 10 years (%)
LTI share price (14.6) (23.6) (31.9) (46.3) 43.2
LTI NAV (19.3) (17.7) (6.0) (0.9) 262.2
MSCI World Index 3.3 27.0 58.6 73.9 254.9
Peer group average NAV 1.4 20.9 44.8 67.6 241.1
Source: Bloomberg, Marten & Co. Note 1) peer group is defined below.

Peer group analysis

Figure 12: Peer group comparative data as at 5 May 2026

Premium / (discount) (%) Dividend yield (%) Ongoing charge (%) Market cap (£m)
Lindsell Train (15.6) 7.0 0.80 120
Alliance Witan (5.5) 2.2 0.47 4,823
AVI Global Trust (8.4) 1.8 0.85 1,024
Bankers (7.7) 2.0 0.51 1,313
Brunner (8.3) 1.7 0.61 644
F&C (8.1) 1.3 0.45 6,115
Mid Wynd (1.7) 1.1 0.64 211
Monks (5.4) 0.0 0.43 2,447
Scottish Mortgage 3.5 0.3 0.31 15,568
Sector median (6.5) 1.9 0.56 3,585
LTI rank 9/9 1/9 8/9 9/9
Source: QuotedData website

Up-to-date information on LTI and its peers is available on our website

LTI is a constituent of the AIC’s Global sector, which is currently comprises nine companies. LTI’s discount is the widest among the peer group, while its dividend yield is far higher than the peer group median due to its unique structure and revenue contribution from LTL. The ongoing charges ratio is at the top end of this peer group, reflecting its small market cap (the smallest in the peer group), although we would argue that none of these charges are particularly high.

Figure 13: Peer group cumulative NAV total return data as at 30 April 2026

6 months 1 year 3 years 5 years 10 years
Lindsell Train (19.3) (17.7) (6.0) (0.9) 262.2
Alliance Witan 0.2 14.2 36.5 71.9 190.7
AVI Global Trust 1.4 13.1 40.7 88.6 205.1
Bankers 3.7 27.5 44.3 68.4 204.3
Brunner 5.1 22.0 42.5 98.0 214.5
F&C 3.6 24.9 55.8 94.4 242.2
Mid Wynd (8.3) 1.4 8.3 24.3 143.4
Monks 0.2 29.3 52.2 49.1 254.3
Scottish Mortgage 5.2 35.2 78.3 46.3 474.0
Sector median 1.4 20.9 44.8 67.6 241.1
AGT rank 9/9 9/9 9/9 9/9 2/9
Source: Bloomberg, Marten & Co

Dividend

Figure 14: LTI dividend history

Source: Lindsell Train Investment Trust

LTI’s dividend is largely funded by the revenue income it receives from LTL, which accounts for around 72% of LTI’s total revenue. With FUM at LTL continuing to decline, further pressure in LTI’s dividend has become inevitable. For 2025, the dividend was £42 per share, down 18.4% on 2024. Further declines in LTL’s FUM will impact LTI’s future dividend, unless the board decides to draw upon revenue reserves, which seems unlikely.

Premium/(discount)

Figure 15: LTI discount over five years

Source: Bloomberg, Marten & Co

LTI’s discount has moved within a range of 10.4% to 24.7% and averaged 17.5% over the 12 months ended 30 April 2026. As of publishing, the company’s discount had narrowed to 15.6%.

As we have discussed, LTL’s quality-focused investing style has been out of favour for some time and has contributed to LTI’s wider discount, while the continued shrinking of FUM at LTL has also been a significant factor.

The board has indicated that it believes using share buybacks as a tool to reduce the discount would prove ineffective. To fund a buyback programme, the company would need to sell existing quoted investments, which would result in an increase in LTL’s percentage weighting within LTI’s portfolio and an increased expense ratio for remaining shareholders.

Fees and costs

Investment management fee of 0.6% of the lower of market cap or NAV

Under the terms of the investment management agreement, Lindsell Train Limited is entitled to receive an annual fee of 0.6%, calculated on the lower of adjusted market capitalisation or adjusted NAV. In the year to 31 March 2025, the manager was paid £819,000 (2024: £976,000).

The manager is also entitled to receive a performance fee, which is calculated annually at a rate of 10% of the value of any positive relative performance versus the benchmark in a financial year. Relative performance is measured by taking the lower of the NAV or average market price, taking into account dividends, at the end of each financial year and comparing the percentage annual change with the total return of the benchmark. A performance fee will only be paid out if the annual change is both above the benchmark and is a positive figure. No performance fee has been paid since 2021.

For the year ended 31 March 2025, LTI’s ongoing charges ratio was 0.80% (2024: 0.83%).

Capital structure

LTI has a simple capital structure with one class of ordinary share in issue. Its ordinary shares have a premium main market listing on the London Stock Exchange and, as at 5 May 2026, there were 20,000,000 in issues and none held in treasury.

Gearing

LTI is permitted to borrow up to a maximum of 50% of NAV, but it does not currently use gearing to enhance returns, in part reflecting the size and risk associated with the company’s unlisted investment in LTL.

Financial calendar

The trust’s year-end is 31 March. The annual results are usually released in June (interims in December) and its AGMs are usually held in September of each year. An annual dividend is usually paid in August.

Major shareholders

Figure 16: Major shareholders as at 5 May 2026

Source: Bloomberg

Management team

LTL is headed up by Michael Lindsell and Nick Train, who co-founded the business in 2000. The wider investment team comprises four members, all of whom are portfolio managers following recent promotions in March 2026.

Michael Lindsell

Michael co-founded LTL in 2000 and is the firm’s chief executive. He is the portfolio manager for Japanese equity portfolios and jointly manages global equity portfolios. Michael has over 40 years’ experience in investment management, including heading GT Management’s global and international funds. Following the acquisition of GT by Invesco in 1998, he was appointed head of the combined global product team. Michael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Bristol.

Nick Train

Nick co-founded LTL and is the firm’s chairman. He is the portfolio manager for UK equity portfolios and jointly manages global equity portfolios. Nick has over 40 years’ experience in investment management, including as head of global equities at M&G Investment Management. He previously he spent 17 years at GT Management. Nick has a degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford.

James Bullock

James joined Lindsell Train in 2010 and is a portfolio manager, and has jointly managed global equity portfolios since 2015. He is also responsible for the North American Equity Fund. James has a Master’s degree in physics from the University of Oxford and a doctorate in Zoology from the University of Cambridge.

Madeline Wright

Madeline joined Lindsell Train in 2012 and was promoted to portfolio manager for the UK Equities fund this year. She has a degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford and previously spent a semester as a visiting student at Yale University. After leaving Oxford, she studied in Japan for a year, where she learnt to speak the language to a high standard.

Alexander Windsor-Clive

Alexander joined Lindsell Train in 2016 and was promoted to portfolio manager of North American equities this year. Alexander has a degree in History from the University of Bristol.

Ben van Leeuwen

Ben joined Lindsell Train in 2019 and was promoted to portfolio manager of the recently launched international equities fund. He has a degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford.

Board

LTI’s board comprises six non-executive directors. All are independent of the manager with the exception of Michael Lindsell. The company’s articles of association limit the aggregate fees payable to the directors to a total of £200,000 per annum, leaving comfortable headroom at the current fee levels.

Board policy is for all directors to retire and offer themselves for re-election annually. Neither the chairman nor any other non-executive director should normally serve for more than nine years, although this may be extended for a limited period where it is considered in the interests of the company or shareholders.

As is illustrated in Figure 17, all of LTI’s directors have personal investments in the trust, which we believe aligns directors’ interests with those of shareholders.

Figure 17: Directors

Director Role Date of appointment Length of service (years) Annual fee (£) Shareholding1
Roger Lambert Chair 23/09/2022 3.5 43,000 5,000
David MacLellan Chair of the audit committee 30/08/2023 2.6 36,000 7,500
Nicholas Allan Non-executive director 18/09/2018 7.5 29,000 15,000
Helena Vinnicombe Senior independent director 23/09/2022 3.5 29,000 2,300
Sian Hansen Non-executive director 04/06/2025 0.8 29,000 1,400
Michael Lindsell Non-independent director 13/07/2006 19.7 – 1,333,884
Source: Lindsell Train Investment Trust. Notes: 1) Shareholdings as per most recent company announcements as at 5 May 2026.

Roger Lambert (chair)

Roger Lambert was appointed chair of the board in January 2024. He has had a 40-year career in investment banking, mostly with JPMorgan Cazenove, where he advised companies in the consumer and financial services sectors and gained experience of corporate finance, public equity investments and public company boards. Roger was a non-executive director of Young & Co’s Brewery Plc where he was the senior independent director and chair of the audit committee. He is currently chair of trustees of the Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund, a governor and chair of the finance & estates committee of King’s Schools, Taunton, and a trustee of the Wykeham Crown & Manor Trust and the Hestercombe Gardens Trust. Roger has an MA in History from Oxford University.

David MacLellan (chair of the audit committee)

David MacLellan is chair of the audit committee. He founded and chairs RJD Partners, and is currently a director and chairs the audit committee at J&J Denholm Limited, Aquila European Renewables Plc as well as being chairman of Custodian Property Income REIT Plc. He was previously a director of a number of public and private companies, including John Laing Infrastructure Fund, where he was latterly chairman. David is a past council member of the British Venture Capital Association and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Edinburgh.

Nicholas Allan (non-executive director)

Nicholas Allan is chair of the nomination committee. He has significant experience of investment management, being a founder of Boyer Allan Investment Management and joint fund manager of the Boyer Allan Pacific Fund Inc. Prior to that, he worked in various roles in UK merchant bank Kleinwort Benson and its affiliates in London, Boston, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong in the 1980s and 90s. This included setting up a pan-Asian securities business and running its global emerging markets securities area. Nicholas has an MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University.

Helena Vinnicombe (senior independent director)

Helena Vinnicombe was appointed to the board in 2022. She is a member of the advisory committee for M&G Charifund, Charibond and Charity Multi-Asset fund and is a non-executive director of Lowland Investment Company plc, where she also serves as a member of the audit and remuneration committees. She also provides independent investment consulting to clients with long-term investment objectives, typically charities and family trusts. Helena was previously a director at Smith & Williamson, where she spent most of her career, focused on private client investment management. Additionally, she is a trustee and chair of the investment committee for the charity NESTA and a trustee for The Child Health Research CIO. She has an MA in Modern Languages from Cambridge University.

Sian Hansen (non-executive director)

Sian Hansen was appointed to the board in 2025. She has a background in investment banking and policy development, holding a diverse portfolio of non-executive board positions including at Worldwide Healthcare Trust Plc. Sian finished her term on the JP Morgan Multi Asset Growth and Income Plc board in March 2024 and was on the board of Pacific Assets Trust Plc from 2016 to 2025. Until October 2023, she held the position of chief operating officer at the CT Group, a global strategic consultancy group. Prior to this, she served as executive director of the Legatum Institute and earlier in her career, she was managing director of Policy Exchange, one of the UK’s most successful policy think tanks.

SWOT analysis

Figure 18: SWOT analysis for LTI

Strengths Weaknesses
Focused investment strategy targeting durable, cash-generative businesses Extremely concentrated portfolio offers limited diversification
LTI’s differentiated investment approach offers a way of diversifying investors’ portfolios LTI’s returns can deviate markedly from those of peers and global indices
Opportunities Threats
Investment approach could return to favour, especially if volatility persists Focused portfolio brings stock-specific risk
AI commoditises data provision, negatively impacting LTI stocks
Source: Marten & Co

Bull vs. bear case

Figure 19: Bull vs. bear case for LTI

Aspect Bull case Bear case
Performance Performance trend reverses and investment approach is widely recognised Momentum-driven stocks continue to drive indices, to the detriment of LTI returns
Dividends LTI’s dividend yield is by far the highest of the peer group Dividend falls as revenue income it receives from LTL continues to dwindle
Outlook Quality, growth investing comes back into favour Elevated macroeconomic risks and uncertainty over impact of AI make the outlook hard to predict
Discount LTI’s discount narrows as enduring quality of portfolio companies acknowledged Underperformance of peers and indices over past five years creates further selling pressure
Source: Marten & Co

Previous publications

To read our previous notes on LTI – click on the links in Figure 20 or visit our website.

Figure 20: Previous publications

Title Note type Publication date
Form is temporary, class is permanent Initiation 13 March 2025
Durability in times of volatility Update 24 September 2025
Source: Marten & Co

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