Investment trusts operate in a similar way to a Unit Trust, however they are a closed ended investment which are traded on equity markets (in many cases the London Stock Exchange). Usually a specific mandate is established e.g investing in Asian equities, and then a fixed amount of money is raised. Unlike unit trusts, investment trusts are managed by the trustees who must act in the best interest of the shareholders and if long term performance has been bad, a cut throat approach to the fund manager can be taken.
There
are a number of benefits of using Investment Trusts:
1. Closed Ended - This is a key
feature that sets them aside from Unit Trusts, it allows fund managers to take
key long term positions in companies without the need to provide liquidity when
investors want to cash in. During
market downturns, people generally will move out of investments into cash, this
tends to effect Unit Trusts more as liquidity is needed in these situations
therefore forcing the fund managers to sell out at the bottom. The resulting effect is when markets rebound,
investment trusts tend to rise further.
Certain sectors benefit from this closed-end nature more than others,
such as direct property and infrastructure (more illiquid holdings).
2. Leveraged
– some investment trusts are leveraged adding to gains during bull markets.
3. Cash
Balances – Unit Trusts are required to pay out a dividend each year, this
is not the case for investment trusts and therefore they can accrue income and
pay out dividends during market downturns.
4. Shareholders
best Interest - As investment trusts are managed by the trustees, they must
act in the best interest of the shareholders.
If long term performance has been bad, a more cut throat approach to the
fund manager is taken, and they may be replaced.
5. Discount
to NAV – This factor may appeal to many investors as they believe
purchasing an investment trust which has a discount to its net asset value will
provide significant upside as demand for the investment trust increases. This is historically not the case. The discount average since 1989 is around 10%. Over the past 10 years the average discount
has been narrowing as control mechanisms have come into place. A Discount Control Mechanism aims to keep
the discount to NAV in a targeted range whereby the investment trust will buy
back its own shares and cancel them, this increases the NAV per share. Downside is that it increases the fund’s
costs as a proportion of the net assets.
Other methods of controlling discount are restructuring the fund, hold a
tender offer or hold a continuation vote.
With investment trusts, like equities and unit trusts it all comes down to selection. Areas where they tend to excel in due to their closed ended nature are property (otherwise known as a REIT) or small cap equities.
There
are a number of direct (or bricks and mortar) property unit trusts available, Ignis
UK property has proved a top performer in this sector. However, the
closed ended nature of investment trusts allows a large proportion of the fund
to be invested in property rather than maintaining sufficient cash levels for share
redemptions. Unit trusts generally will have to leave upwards of 20% in cash to
allow for this. in doing so capital uplift and rental returns are reduced. With investment trusts, like equities and unit trusts it all comes down to selection. Areas where they tend to excel in due to their closed ended nature are property (otherwise known as a REIT) or small cap equities.
As unit trusts are open ended they can grow to significant fund sizes, some upwards of £20bn. However, investment trusts, being closed ended provides a degree of flexibility and staying power within small cap equities.
Some of the top performing investments have been from this sector and most notably Aberdeen’s Asian Smaller Companies fund which has returned a staggering 255% over 5 years.
So when you look next to look to invest your money, ask yourself, have I considered all the investment opportunities?
No comments:
Post a Comment