Stock prices in London opened softly in the green on Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of upcoming US GDP data.The FTSE 100 index opened up just 4.00 points at 8,347.85. The FTSE 250 was down 11.24 points, or 0.1%, at 21,055.63, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.74 points, or 0.2%, at 772.04.The Cboe UK 100 was up slightly at 834.44, the Cboe UK 250 was down a little at 18,563.12, and the

The Global Smaller Companies Trust (GSCT) 166pMarket cap: £794.4 millionDespite the recent stock market dominance of mega-cap US tech companies, high-quality smaller caps have a longer term record of outperforming. With greater inherent growth potential than their large cap brethren, small caps tend to fare well in a falling interest rate environment and with borrowing costs on the way down in t

Disposal boosts Chrysalis' liquiditySBO to receive back original investmentAnalyst says deal is 'good news' for UK techBritish semiconductor company Graphcore may have been sold to Japan's Softbank (9984:TYO) at a fraction of its peak value, but the deal has allowed investment trusts Chrysalis Investments (CHRY) and Schroder British Opportunities (SBO) to realise some cash and report uplifts in NA

There's no doubt the shock departure of a star fund manager or well-followed stock picker is a red flag, but there are various reasons why successful portfolio managers choose to leave their investment management firm and therefore their funds.And, as with most aspects of investing, there are no hard and fast rules about what investors should do when their fund manager ups sticks. Much depends on

US-listed large-caps shone last year with shares in mega-caps, and the ?Magnificent Seven? in particular, surging higher. However, this outperformance only widened the valuation gap between US large and small-caps and left shares in the latter cohort languishing at the low end of historical valuations.Over one and five years, the Russell 2000 index of US small-cap stocks is up 14.6% and 30.5% at t

Rising interest rates since the turn of the year, runaway inflation and Russia's shocking invasion of Ukraine have shaken the investment kaleidoscope in 2022 and forced many investors to reposition portfolios for an increasingly uncertain world.This is reflected in developments in the investment trusts universe, which has thrown up some obvious and more surprising winners in the opening months of

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

Numerous investment trusts in recent years have asked shareholders permission to increase their exposure to companies which do not trade on a stock market, known as unquoted or unlisted.Primarily, this is because companies are staying private for longer and this change in investment policy allows investment trusts to capture more of the rapid growth and value generated during the earlier stage of

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

A major sell-off in technology stocks overnight in the US has spilled over into European and UK markets, with several investment trusts tanking.The UK's largest closed-end fund and sole FTSE 100 member, Scottish Mortgage (SMT), slumped 4% in early trading to £10.95, the stock's lowest since early March. Scottish Mortgage holds big bets on Amazon, Tesla and Tencent, the Chinese social media compan

This is the first part in a regular series in which we will provide an investment clinic based on hypothetical scenarios. By doing so we aim to provide some insights which can help different types of investor from beginners all the way up to experienced market participants.The 43-year-old already has shares in the banking firm for whom he works through a SAYE (save as you earn) scheme and has addi

We all know the many things 2020 will be remembered for, but in the investment world it's been a historic moment for the performance of Baillie Gifford's investment funds.It's been the year many societal and economic trends have accelerated sharply, and this has fueled what some fund managers and analysts have called 'extreme growth' in certain parts of the stock market.As arguably one of, if not

From a human standpoint, 2020 has proved a shocker of a year, with the unforeseen pandemic wreaking havoc on health and the associated lockdowns precipitating a global economic downturn that may take years to battle back from.Yet paradoxically, 2020 has been anything but negative from a markets perspective, with equity indices roiled by the onset of the crisis then recovering strongly with a boost

In recent years small caps globally have suffered from investor risk aversion and concerns over everything from Covid-19 perceptions to trade war and Brexit-related worries. Until the recent rotation into value, investors had continued to show a preference for larger companies, driving down the weighting to small caps held by both passive and active funds.As 2020 draws to its conclusion, investors

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are often associated with the largest, most liquid stocks in the market, but in fact you can use them to gain exposure to small companies too.But why would you want to hold them through ETFs, what are the risks, and what are your options when it comes to choosing a fund?Looking at all the London-listed ETFs with at least 50% of their portfolios in small caps, you can s

Wound management specialist ConvaTec (CTEC) has poached Genus (GNS) chief executive officer (CEO) Karim Bitar in a bid to turnaround the embattled firm's fortunes amid a reshuffle in management.Shares in ConvaTec have jumped 5.1% to 141.1p while shares in Genus reversed 5.4% to £22.34.Since 2011, Karim has helped to transform Genus by boosting its presence in key emerging markets, simplifying the

It's a year since AJ Bell launched its version of the Lifetime ISA, a few months after the newest form of the ISA was launched in April 2017.Since then around 8,000 individuals have signed up to the YouInvest Lifetime ISA, one of the few investment platforms that allows unrestricted investment within the ISA. See the box (overleaf) for the basics of the Lifetime ISA account and how it works.But ho

Investors regularly assume that all investment trusts pay a dividend because they benefit from having a diverse range of assets in their portfolios.In reality 61 investment trusts don't pay anything to shareholders at all. You simply own these types of trusts for capital gains.Failure to pay a dividend should not be a reflection of a poor quality investment portfolio. It may simply be a result of

Innovative companies from around the globe are powering the impressive performance of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWI), whose share price surged 43% higher and net asset value rocketed 31.6% north to 718.89p in a stellar year to 31 October 2017.Outperforming the benchmark S&P Global Small Cap Index, the capital growth focused trust's emphasis on innovators and attractive assets that coul

We believe every fund or investment trust should provide crystal clear information on how they look for investments, what they choose and how they manage their portfolio.Sadly the quality of communication is variable across the industry. We will therefore use this article as a way of championing some of the asset management houses who excel at communication, in our view.As a retail investor, choos