Suggestions for investment trusts

BuildTheWall

I have invested my wife’s pension in SMT, EWI, MNKS and PHI. I’d like to invest my pension similarly in ITs, but would prefer non BG trusts, to avoid putting all eggs in one basket. Any suggestions for good diversified, small cap and Asian trusts? I’d like to avoid sector specific ones. 

tacpot12

Here are some suggestions to look at:
FGT for Growth
CTY for Growth & Income
IPU as a small cap choice
SOI as an Asian choice

george4064

For Asia Pacific I would recommend you consider Pacific Assets Trust (LON: PAC).

NedS

SLS for UK small caps

JPG/JEMI/JCGI for Asia/emerging markets

Thrugelmir

Templeton Emerging Markets - TEM
Acorn Income Fund - AIF
JP Morgan Emerging Markets - JMG
River & Mercantile UK Microcap - RMMC
Montanaro UK Small Companies - MTU
Henderson Smaller Companies  - HSL 
Herald - HRI
Standard Life Private Equity Tst - SLPE
Standard Life UK Smaller Cos - SLS 
Henderson Far East Income  - HFEL 
Diverse Income Trust - DIVI
Smithson Investment Trust - SSON
Utilico Emerging Markets - UEM
Oryx International Growth Fund - OIG
North Atlantic Smaller Cos - NAS

Trusts to watch and consider.  

Apodemus

MYI for international cover that has relatively little overlap with EWI.  RCP and RICA for some wealth preservation.  I know you said no sector funds, but I would add IBT or BIOG in biotech and something in the renewable energy sector - I have JLEN and BSIF but there are plenty of others to choose from.

ColdIron

You could filter them yourself at The AIC

https://www.theaic.co.uk/aic/find-compare-investment-companies

gollum007

ColdIron said:

You could filter them yourself at The AIC

https://www.theaic.co.uk/aic/find-compare-investment-companies

I wouldn't necessarily say a trade association is the right place for comparisons or research.

Useful yes, but remember to do your own detailed research.

Bravepants

There are a lot of quotes on the forums about how people should "do their own research". But no-one ever mentions what sorts of things that a person should be looking for during that research!

Prism

It depends on what you mean by diversified. I don't think there is any need for a trust to hold 50+ stocks and unless the managers have a large team to rely on, like BG do, I tend to look for trusts that have a bit more focus. These are two I use that possibly fall into those categories..

Chrysalis Investments Limited (CHRY) - 12 mostly European late stage private companies.
Mobius Investment Trust (MMIT) - 30 small/mid cap emerging market companies - around 80% Asia.

gollum007

Bravepants said:

There are a lot of quotes on the forums about how people should "do their own research". But no-one ever mentions what sorts of things that a person should be looking for during that research!

True.

As a very basic few suggestions:

• Independant comparison site review / risk ratings. (Morningstar, Trustnet etc.)
• Relative past performance to others in the sector.
• Relative past performance to something like the FTSE All-Share. (IMHO it's helpful to do this for anything, as it's no use investing for opportunities in a specific sector if this provides peanuts returns)
  
• Performance of the manager / management team.
• Charges etc. relative to others in the sector and performance.
  
• Top 10- 20 holdings- Is there anything which rings alarm bells? Might be enlightening to research some of these in order to see if you agree with the manager they're worth holding.
  
• Read the fund manager's objectives & annual reports.
• Consider the sector and reigon of the fund compared to any other holdings. If (for example) you've invested everything in a single sector, this is likely to be more volatile than a smoothed balance of all sectors.

Remember:

• Industry awards (AIC et. al) are a closed shop. Marginally useful as a starting point, but don't buy based upon them.
• Don't buy blindly whatever your platform is promoting- Look at the mess with HL and Woodford.
• Past performance is *no* guarantee of future returns, but can provide a starting point for consideration.