The period since 'Liberation Day' ? when the Trump administration announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs ? has been extremely volatile and ultimately negative for financial markets. This is reflected in the average performance of the investment trust universe which, excluding VCTs, comes in at -1.9% based on Shares analysis of Sharescope data up until 24 April. It is no surprise to see vehicles...

According to data from the AIC, the average investment trust discount to net asset value has widened from 12.2% at the end of 2022 to 14.5% as of 8 September 2023, while sector averages have generally widened. The exception is private equity, which narrowed from 25.1% to 4.5%, skewed by 3i's (III) dramatic swing from discount to premium.While this presents an opportunity to buy into parts of...