- Investment trusts are still the cheapest way to access some top fund managers
- When the manager runs an open-ended fund too, what are the pros and cons of each option?
Interest rates have come down and markets have been buoyant over the past year, but the investment trust bargain bonanza has shown no sign of ending. Many trusts performed well in 2024, with four in five Association of Investment Companies (AIC) sectors posting a positive average share price total return. And yet low valuations persist: the average discount in the sector overall amounted to 14.9 per cent at the start of 2025 (once 3i Group (III) is excluded), wider than the 12.7 per cent we saw at the start of 2024 and 10.7 per cent a year before that.
'Bargains' are widespread for those who search across both conventional assets and alternatives. To give an example, the AIC's UK Equity Income sector comes with an average discount not far below 5 per cent, while in the Renewable Energy Infrastructure group that amounts to nearly 30 per cent.