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Which investment trusts have delivered riches this year?
If you owned any of these trusts at the start of the year, you’ll now be celebrating above-average returns.
Investment trusts are often a sound investment but picking one that stands out from the crowd can really boost your returns.
So if you’re trying to decide where to invest for the second half of the year it could pay to see which trusts and sectors have outperformed the rest over the last six months.
The top funds and stocks for DIY investors have reflected a slant towards technology so far this year. Investors who followed that trend were rewarded, as technology-focused investment trusts delivered greater returns than any other sector.
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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.
According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), an industry body representing the UK’s investment trusts, the average investment trust performed better than the UK stock market’s flagship large cap index, returning 9.4% during the first half of the year compared to the FTSE 100’s 5.7%.
Some investment trust sectors generated average returns well above this level.
The top-performing investment trust sectors of H1 2026
Tech was the top-performing investment trust sector, returning over 50% in the first six months of the year.
“The historic boom in AI spending continued to drive returns in the first half of 2026, most obviously in the technology sector,” said Annabel Brodie-Smith, communications director at the AIC.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
The ten best performing investment trust sectors in H1 2026
AIC sector
Share price total return in %
Header Cell - Column 2
Header Cell - Column 3
Header Cell - Column 4
Header Cell - Column 5
Row 0 - Cell 0
H1 2026
1 yr
3 yrs
5 yrs
10 yrs
Technology & Technology Innovation
50.5
88.6
211.6
184.7
1,026.3
Asia Pacific
32.8
58.3
79.5
47.3
257.9
Global Emerging Markets
31.4
62.2
109.4
65.3
232.9
Asia Pacific Equity Income
26.0
53.2
88.1
72.5
208.1
Global Smaller Companies
23.7
32.7
64.8
12.4
206.7
Japan
18.2
32.0
62.5
39.6
178.3
Growth Capital
17.3
49.9
115.1
-40.8
N/A
Global
15.5
29.7
84.3
28.6
307.3
Commodities & Natural Resources
13.1
62.3
71.3
92.1
97.2
Infrastructure
10.7
18.9
28.4
16.0
186.3
Source: theaic.co.uk / Morningstar. Share price total return in % to 30/06/26.
Tech and AI might be more heavily represented in the top-performing investment trust sectors than is initially apparent: the theme is also having a significant impact “in Asia and emerging markets where some of the world’s largest AI hardware and microchip manufacturers are based”, said Brodie-Smith.
It has also been a good six months for global small caps, with the sector returning 23.7% on average to make it the fifth-best-performing investment trust sector. The average Japan-focused investment trust, meanwhile, returned 18.2%.
Which investment trusts were the top performers in H1 2026?
While technology was the top-performing investment trust sector overall, the top-performing individual investment trust came from the commodities sector.
Baker Steel Resources (LON:BSRT) returned over 65% in the first six months of the year. The trust is a diversified commodities investment trust; it holds producers of precious metals like gold and silver, but as of 31 March its portfolio has the largest weighting towards tungsten producers – making up 23% of assets.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
The ten best-performing investment trusts in H1 2026
Investment trust
AIC sector
Share price total return in %
Header Cell - Column 3
Header Cell - Column 4
Header Cell - Column 5
Header Cell - Column 6
Row 0 - Cell 0
Row 0 - Cell 1
H1 2026
1 yr
3 yrs
5 yrs
10 yrs
Average investment trust
Row 1 - Cell 1
9.4
21.1
48.2
28.9
171.5
Baker Steel Resources
Commodities & Natural Resources
65.2
104.0
187.6
35.5
433.3
Seraphim Space Investment Trust
Growth Capital
56.5
119.4
595.6
N/A
N/A
Polar Capital Technology
Technology & Technology Innovation
53.7
96.2
223.4
201.1
1,040.8
Pacific Horizon
Asia Pacific
50.0
92.2
119.5
40.2
538.6
JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income
Asia Pacific Equity Income
45.7
76.0
108.5
56.3
310.5
Manchester & London
Technology & Technology Innovation
45.6
47.8
185.5
127.2
540.6
Fidelity Emerging Markets
Global Emerging Markets
43.5
99.2
178.5
84.9
238.3
Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust
Global Emerging Markets
42.9
80.9
146.0
90.5
322.3
Allianz Technology Trust
Technology & Technology Innovation
42.7
77.4
187.0
155.4
1,112.9
Schiehallion Fund
Growth Capital
39.7
73.6
213.9
8.8
N/A
Source: theaic.co.uk / Morningstar. Share price total return in % to 30/06/26.
Technology is unsurprisingly a recurring sector in the rest of the 10 top-performing investment trusts list. Three of the trusts – Polar Capital (LON:PCT), Manchester & London (LON:MNL) and Allianz Technology (LON:ATT) – are all designated to the technology and innovation sector by the AIC, while Seraphim Space (LON:SSIT) and Schiehallion Fund (LON:MNTN) have significant overlap with technology as a theme.
Asian and emerging market trusts like Pacific Horizon (LON:PHI) also featured amid the AI boom. Pacific Horizon’s top two holdings as of 31 May were chipmakers Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor.
“The strong performance is extremely welcome, but this is only a snapshot. It is important to remember that investing is a long-term commitment and that any sector or trust should form part of a broader, diversified portfolio,” said Brodie-Smith.
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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.
