Investment trusts have experienced challenges this year, with discounts remaining wide across various sectors and some consolidation occurring. However, certain trusts have performed well compared to both the wider market and their peer group. This article highlights the top performers across four of the Association of Investment Companies' most widely followed equity-facing sectors.GLOBALAn...

Eight months in, 2024 is already a record year for M&A (mergers and acquisitions) in the investment trust sector.Trust boards are increasingly focused on value for money and shareholder returns amid persistently wide discounts to NAV (net asset value) and with activists nosing around. A major trend underway is mergers between sub-scale trusts with similar remits to create funds large and...

Most of us will be aware of the need to plan for our retirement, however far or otherwise we might have got with doing so. After all, when we stop working we all still want to enjoy a decent quality of life. In this article we will explore how much money you will need and the level of pension pot required to achieve it as well as providing some investment ideas for people at the start of the...

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...

Two China trusts to mergeTwo Troy trusts also to mergeFocus on costs and liquidityWith investment trust shares in the doldrums and discounts to NAV (net asset value) at their widest level for some time, we have been predicting a wave of mergers among sub-scale funds.Expect 2024 to see more mergers of sub-scale investment trustsToday we had further confirmation that consolidation is the way...

RELX (REL) £28.83Market cap: £53.9 billionShares in information provider and data analytics specialist RELX (REL) rarely look cheap and today is no exception. However, this is a really excellent business, whose track record stands up over the long term and which is well positioned to adapt to and benefit from developments like the growth of AI (artificial intelligence).The stock has enjoyed...

Value stocks have outperformed growth stocks by 12% since Pfizer (PFE:NYSE) announced the first effective Covid-19 vaccine on 9 November 2020. That's comparing the MSCI World Value index against the MSCI World Growth index.We have reason to believe the value investing style could soon deliver even bigger outperformance given the shift in the backdrop from cheap money to more normalised...

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...

It can be hard to look past day-to-day cares and worries and give proper thought to achieving a financially comfortable retirement. However, if you want to enjoy a decent quality of life after you bring your career to a close then you must devote more attention to your pension.Investment trusts, held within a SIPP (self-invested personal pension), can be a useful vehicle to help you achieve...

Latest statistics from the Association of Investment Companies' Global Equity Income sector shows one trust is by far the best 10-year share price total return performer thanks to impressive asset growth and strong investor appetite for its winning strategy.JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI) or 'JGGI' for short, comfortably tops the table over that period, having returned 254% over the...