Top 10 most popular investment trusts - March 2017
10th April 2017 10:54
by Josh Lee from interactive investor
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The fine form stockmarkets have been enjoying since last summer continued in March, with the crossing the 7,400 mark for the first time.
When markets are riding high investors naturally become more cautious, which is perhaps why it is no surprise that the top 10 most-bought trusts is relatively unchanged for the month of March, with investors continuing to back the tried and tested investment trust names.
Our data shows trusts in the global sector continue to dominate the top 10, while UK trusts are also well-represented. But while most trusts have managed to stay in the top 10 for another month, there have been a couple of new entries.
For the 23rd month running was the most-bought trust.The company is still benefiting from its recent promotion to the FTSE 100, which should in theory give it a short-term boost due to the fact FTSE 100 tracker funds automatically buy into the company.
The trust continues to perform well above its sector's average, and is ranked second for performance within the Association of Investment Companies (AIC's) global sector on both a three and five-year timeframe.
shot up to second place from outside the top 10 this month. In January, we named HICL Infrastructure as an investment trust to watch for income and growth in 2017, due to Trump's pledge to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure.
Its future popularity may depend on Trump's ability to follow through with his promises, but with infrastructure trusts being known for providing income and stability in uncertain times, it could well remain in the top 10 for months to come.
HICL's success is loss, with the latter being bumped down to third place after a few months of climbing the table.
The trust had a strong February, with its share price rising 4.8%, but returns cooled somwhat in March, rising 0.4% for the month of March.
Overseen by Andrew Bell the trust contains 10 to 15 fund managers, who each run a different geographical portfolio. The blend of different approaches and styles helps smooth out the volatility normally associated with a single fund manager. The trust boasts 41 consecutive years of annual dividend increases.
and complete the top five.
fell out of the top five to sixth place last month, while moved up from eight to seventh. tumbled quite significantly from fifth place to eighth, after spending two consecutive months climbing the table.
fell to ninth place last month, while finishing off our top 10 is a new entry, . The trust has performed well since Charles Plowden took the helm as fund manager back in 2015, with a fund performance of 65.4% over the past three years – 20% above its sector average.
and exit the top 10.
| Rank | Trust | AIC Sector | Change since February | 1m SP total return to 4 Apr (%) | 3yr SP total return to 4 Apr |
| 1 | Scottish Mortgage* | Global | -- | 5.6 | 81.5 |
| 2 | HICL Infrastructure | Infrastructure | -- | 3.9 | 45.2 |
| 3 | Witan* | Global | -1 | 0.4 | 45.5 |
| 4 | Woodford Patient Capital | UK All Companies | -1 | -2.6 | n/a |
| 5 | City of London Investment Trust* | UK Equity Income | +1 | -0.9 | 24.2 |
| 6 | Finsbury Growth* | UK Equity Income | -2 | 0.3 | 42.1 |
| 7 | RIT Capital Partners* | Flexible Investment - Mixed Asset | +1 | -2.4 | 46 |
| 8 | Blackrock World Mining Trust* | Commodities and Natural Resources | -3 | -4.3 | -10.3 |
| 9 | Foreign And Colonial Investment* | Global | -2 | -1.9 | 59.4 |
| 10 | Monks Investment Trust | Global | New Entry | 2.2 | 65.4 |
| *Denotes a Money Observer Rated Fund | |||||
This article was originally published in our sister magazine Money Observer. Click here to subscribe.
This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.