Six investment trusts for long-term investors

It’s no change once again as Merryn Somerset Webb delivers the latest update on our investment trust portfolio.

979_MW_P22_Invest-Trust

Tesla: it could be a disaster, or a rip-roaring success

Since 2012, we have been suggesting a small portfolio of investment trusts for those of you who want to hold funds run by active managers, but not be particularly active yourselves. I promised when we first wrote about it that we would update you on it occasionally and change it even more occasionally. Since launch we have made three changes: selling BH Macro; 3i Infrastructure; and Finsbury Growth & Income trust; and replacing them with Caledonia Investments; Law Debenture Corporation; and Temple Bar. So far so good. On a capital return basis the portfolio is up about 106% since inception around 14% annualised. Add in a portfolio yield of around 2% and it doesn't look bad at all. We would have done far better to have been less cautious, less value-orientated and more open to US exposure over the last seven years (the S&P 500 is up 177% in sterling terms) and we have underperformed the wider market over the last year. But thanks to the inclusion of Scottish Mortgage with its huge exposure to the US tech sector in particular we have comfortably beaten the UK market since 2012 (the FTSE 100 has seen a capital return of more like 6% over the same period, albeit with a much higher yield).

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Swipe to scroll horizontally
The MoneyWeek Investment Trust Portfolio (as of 9/12/19)
Row 1 - Cell 0 PriceYieldPrem/DiscTotal Exp. Ratio
Caledonia (LSE: CLDN)3,085p1.97%-16.7%0.94%
Personal Assets Trust (LSE: PNL)42,050p1.33%1.59%0.91%
Scottish Mortgage (LSE: SMT)520p0.6%-2.36%0.37%
RIT (LSE: RCP)2,140.5p1.6%9.91%0.68%
Law Debenture (LSE: LWDB)608p3.13%-8.63%0.45%
Temple Bar (LSE: TMPL)1,348p4.1%-2.04%0.47%
AverageRow 8 - Cell 1 2.12%Row 8 - Cell 3 0.64%
Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.