Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Next-generation dividend heroes: the investment trusts that have consistently raised dividends
Which investment trusts could be set to join the coveted list of dividend heroes? We look at the trusts that have increased dividend payments for 10 years or more.
One of the biggest advantages of buying investment trusts is their potential to pay reliable dividends.
Unlike other kinds of funds, investment trusts only have to return 85% of capital to shareholders in any given year. Therefore, with skilled management, they can smooth out dividend payments over time, using past reserves to maintain yields even in years when the portfolio struggles; it’s one thing that means they’re often popular choices with DIY investors.
Sign up for MoneyWeek’s free twice-daily newsletter.
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
It also keeps tabs on those that could be poised to join in due course: so-called ‘next-generation dividend heroes’. These are investment trusts that have increased dividends for between ten and twenty years.
Two new investment trusts have joined the list this year: Foresight Environmental Infrastructure (LON:FGEN) and Utilico Emerging Markets (LON:UEM).
“We are… delighted to have been recognised as part of the next generation of dividend heroes,” said Charlie Wright, co-lead investment manager of Foresight Environmental Infrastructure. “The dividend remains a key attraction for our investors, particularly retail shareholders.”
Foresight Environmental Infrastructure holds 40 private infrastructure assets across three key pillars of environmental infrastructure: renewable energy generation, other energy infrastructure and sustainable resource management.
Of these, the largest component is renewable energy generation, which accounted for 71% of the portfolio at the time of the trust’s half-year report, published November 2025.
“The trust offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of otherwise hard-to-reach private environmental infrastructure assets that deliver stable returns, predictable income and the opportunity for capital growth,” said Wright. As the most diversified renewable energy infrastructure trust on the market, the portfolio is less exposed to volatility that can be caused by extreme weather patterns or fluctuating energy prices.
Utilico Emerging Markets, meanwhile, invests in infrastructure and utilities across emerging market economies. Top holdings as of 28 February include Brazilian waste treatment company Orizon Valorizacao de Residuos, the Philippines’ port operator International Container Terminal Services, and Indian power sector investment trust Indigrid Infrastructure Trust.
“We invest in listed infrastructure and utility companies which are crucial to the growth and development of many emerging markets,” said Jacqueline Broers, co-fund manager of Utilico Emerging Markets. “These companies generate stable, growing cash flows, often underpinned by regulatory frameworks, which supports our ability to pay consistently growing dividends.”
(Image credit: Justin Paget via Getty Images)
The longest-running next-generation dividend heroes
Two of the trusts on the AIC’s list of 30 are a year away from promotion into the main list of dividend heroes, each boasting 19 consecutive years of increased payouts.
These are Schroder Oriental Income (LON:SOI) and BlackRock Greater Europe (LON:BRGE).
Schroder Oriental focuses on Asian companies with attractive growth and income potential. As of 19 March, it had a dividend yield of 3.28%, and has grown its dividend at an annualised rate of 3.44% over the last five years.
BlackRock Greater Europe focuses on high quality small and large companies in Europe, including some in developing European markets. It has a dividend yield of 1.35% and a five year annualised dividend growth rate of 3.06%.
The full list of next-generation dividend heroes
Below is the full list of all thirty next-generation dividend heroes:
Swipe to scroll horizontally
The next generation of investment trust dividend heroes
Investment trust
Number of consecutive years dividends increased
Dividend
yield (%)
Five year annualised dividend growth rate (%)
Schroder Oriental Income
19
3.28
3.44
BlackRock Greater Europe
19
1.35
3.06
CQS New City High Yield Fund
18
9.15
0.22
Henderson Far East Income
18
9.98
1.60
International Public Partnerships
17
6.75
3.11
Aberdeen Asian Income Fund
17
5.88
11.79
Fidelity Special Values
16
2.34
11.95
Lowland
16
4.13
2.00
Law Debenture Corporation
16
3.30
5.24
Invesco Global Equity Income Trust
15
3.90
12.17
TR Property
15
5.08
2.58
Aberforth Smaller Companies
15
3.15
7.04
Fidelity European
15
2.54
8.78
North American Income Trust
14
3.08
5.13
Dunedin Income Growth
14
6.61
2.26
CT Global Managed Portfolio Income
14
6.15
4.50
Fidelity China Special Situations
14
2.74
13.49
Diverse Income Trust
13
4.09
3.99
CT Private Equity Trust
13
5.88
12.84
Henderson High Income
13
5.83
1.94
Mid Wynd International
13
1.18
6.41
CT UK High Income Trust
12
5.17
2.13
Mercantile Investment Trust
12
3.21
3.66
ICG Enterprise Trust
12
2.87
9.37
Canadian General Investments
12
2.27
5.15
RIT Capital Partners
12
2.00
4.20
Patria Private Equity Trust
11
3.23
5.92
Foresight Solar Fund
11
12.70
3.23
Utilico Emerging Markets Trust
10
3.50
3.79
Foresight Environmental Infrastructure
10
10.93
3.21
Source: AIC / Morningstar. Data at 19/03/26.
Law Debenture (LON:LWDB) is one of the six current constituents of the MoneyWeek investment trust portfolio, a model we set up over a decade ago to help readers build a global, long-term, “all-weather” set of investments.
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Dan is a financial journalist who, prior to joining MoneyWeek, spent five years writing for OPTO, an investment magazine focused on growth and technology stocks, ETFs and thematic investing.
Before becoming a writer, Dan spent six years working in talent acquisition in the tech sector, including for credit scoring start-up ClearScore where he first developed an interest in personal finance.
Dan studied Social Anthropology and Management at Sidney Sussex College and the Judge Business School, Cambridge University. Outside finance, he also enjoys travel writing, and has edited two published travel books.
