Bankers Investment Trust: July 2025 update

• Alex Crooke is an experienced investor supported by a highly resourced team

• The trust’s dividend increased for the 58th successive year

• Long-term returns have been attractive though the trust hasn’t performed as well as the IA Global peer group more recently

How it fits in a portfolio

Bankers Investment Trust aims to grow income and capital over the longer term by investing in companies from around the globe. The trust’s focus on cash generation means it typically invests in more established companies from developed regions like the US, Europe and Japan. It also has some exposure to emerging markets, as well as smaller companies, both of which are higher risk.

The trust’s invested quite differently from the benchmark, so performance can also be different, but these differences mean it could offer diversification against other globally focused investments. Blending both value and growth companies, the trust could work alongside other investments which have a more distinct style, or simply provide global diversification to a broader investment portfolio. Investors in closed-ended funds should be aware the trust can trade at a discount or premium to Net Asset Value (NAV).

Manager

Alex Crooke has managed the trust since June 2003. A graduate of Manchester University, Crooke started his career in 1990 as a US equities analyst for Equitable Life Assurance Society. He joined Henderson (now Janus Henderson) in 1994 and is currently Head of Equities – Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

He has plenty of resource at his disposal and delegates the stock picking to four individual managers at Janus Henderson. Each has a different area of expertise which Crooke carefully blends to create a diversified portfolio.

Process

The trust’s split into four regional sleeves: Europe (including UK), North America, Japan, Asia Pacific (including China). Each sleeve has its own dedicated manager who’s given autonomy to invest where they see fit. While each manager implements their own investment style, what unites them is a focus on companies with strong cash flows.

Crooke’s responsible for selecting the underlying managers and choosing how much to invest with each one. He does this based on his view of the economic situation in each area, and which regions he believes can provide sustainable dividend growth. He tends to look at the world with a three to five-year view, so the managers don’t change too often. He’s flexible though and will react quickly in response to major economic events such as Brexit or Covid-19.

Asset allocation has changed dramatically since Crooke took charge in 2003. Back then over 50% of the trust’s assets were allocated to the UK. That figure’s now closer to 6%. The trust’s benchmark changed in 2017 from the FTSE All Share to the FTSE World to reflect the change in geographical diversification, although the investment philosophy and process didn’t change.

As at the end of June 2025, North America’s the largest sleeve with around 62% invested here. In contrast around 15% of the trust’s invested in Europe and 10% in Japan. Crooke also has a meaningful position in Asia Pacific at 8% which includes exposure to emerging markets which adds risk.

Crooke recently announced he has lowered the amount of managers he uses from six to four. Instead of having two sleeves that cover the UK and Europe separately he now has one that covers both regions. Following the departure of European manager Jamie Ross in February 2025. Crooke will now take on responsibility for this combined sleeve. The same has also taken place with the Asia ex Japan and China sleeves. This has reduced the amount of investments the trust has to approximately 100 companies.

Each of the underlying managers has been active during the trust’s financial year to the end of October 2024. In North America, manager Jeremiah Buckey added a number of companies including media and advertising business Meta (Facebook). Buckley believes that Meta has accelerated its growth through the adoption of AI and will improve the experience for customers. He also added technology consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton and industrial company Eaton. He also sold a number of companies including one of the biggest banks in America, JP Morgan, and semiconductor company Texas Instruments.

Elsewhere, the Pan Asia manager Sat Duhra has bought Indian technology company HCL Technologies, he also added Taiwanese technology company Han Hai Precision whilst also continuing to buy Taiwanese semiconductor company TSMC. He also sold a number of Australian companies including Woodside Energy, BHP Group and Pilbara minerals.

There were also changes in the European and the Japanese sleeves.

Crooke has flexibility to utilise gearing (borrowing to invest) which, if used, adds risk. Gearing at the end of June 2025 stood at 6%.

Culture

Bankers Investment Trust was established in 1888 and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It’s managed by Janus Henderson Investors, a large investment firm with offices all over the world. The firm was formed in 2017 from the merger of two long-established groups – US-based Janus Capital Group and Henderson Global Investors.

They value experience, and so fund managers at the group have on average over two decades of investment experience. Sharing knowledge and ideas between investment teams is an important part of the culture. Managers have the flexibility to tap into the wider group’s resources for ideas and insights, but also have the freedom to do their own research and form their own views without having a ‘house view’ placed on them.

ESG Integration

Janus Henderson aims to be a responsible steward of investors’ money, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is an important part of this. All fund managers have access to ESG scoring models and customised ESG research, but the firm believes ESG considerations should go beyond examining numbers. Company site visits, speaking to workers and questioning company management are just some of the ways fund managers are expected to actively assess a company’s ESG credentials.

Investment teams across Janus Henderson actively engage with the companies they invest in, and the firm’s longstanding Responsible Investment & Governance team provides centralised support on voting and engagement.

When it comes to voting, Janus Henderson has a Proxy Voting Committee, which is responsible for establishing the firm’s position on major voting issues and creating guidelines overseeing the voting process. The Committee is comprised of representatives from various business areas, including portfolio management, corporate governance, accounting, legal and compliance. The firm’s full proxy voting records are published annually, although no rationale is provided. There is more detail on voting and engagement, including case studies, in the firm’s annual ESG Company Engagement & Voting Review report and Responsibility report

Although this trust isn’t designated a ‘sustainable’ trust, the managers integrate ESG into their process and believe it can be a long-term risk to a company.

Cost

The ongoing annual charge over the trust’s financial year to 31 October 2024 was 0.51%. This is marginally higher than it was the previous year. Investors should refer to the latest annual reports and accounts, and Key Information Document for further details of the risks and charging structure.

If held in a SIPP or ISA the HL platform charge of 0.45% (capped at £200 for a SIPP and £45 for an ISA) per annum also applies. The platform charge doesn’t apply if the trust is held in a Fund and Share Account, or in a Junior ISA.

As investment trusts trade like shares, both a buy and sell instruction will be subject to the HL share dealing charges where applicable.

Performance

Alex Crooke has delivered strong returns since becoming the trust’s manager in July 2003. Over this period, the trust’s share price has grown by 755.62%* versus 733.80% of the AIC Global peer group. Its net asset value (NAV) has also grown by 156.25% over the last 10 years. Remember all investments will rise and fall in value, so you could get back less than you invest. Past performance isn’t a guide to the future.

Over the trust’s last financial year to the end of October 2024, its share price grew 21.43% versus 27.33% for the AIC Global peer group. During this time the NAV increased 21.06%.

Out of the four managers used by the trust, three of them underperformed their regional benchmarks and just one outperformed. The trust’s allocation to North America lagged the regional benchmark returning 20.3% compared to 30.3%. The largest detractor was retail and sporting goods company Nike. Coffeehouse chain Starbucks and agriculture company Deere also hurt performance.

The trust’s investments in Pan Asia also didn’t keep pace with their benchmark, returning 10.5% vs 21.5%. The manager not investing as much as the benchmark in China hurt performance but also picking the wrong companies in the region didn’t help. Consumer companies Anta Sports and PDD Holdings were key detractors.

Before Crooke took over the Pan Europe sleeve it was ran by Jamie Ross and over the trust’s financial year was marginally behind the regional benchmark returning 16.4% vs 16.6%.

The best performing sleeve was the Japanese investments which returned 17.3% compared to 15.2% for the regional benchmark. Data company Hitachi was the largest contributor to performance. Industrial company Ebara also contributed, benefiting from the increased demand for semiconductor equipment.

The trust’s dividend per share for 2024 (to the end of October) was 2.688p, 5% higher than the previous year. This trust’s an AIC ‘dividend hero’ having increased its dividend for the 58th year in a row. No future dividends are guaranteed.

The trust currently trades at a discount of 8.59% however, on average over the last 12 months it has traded at a discount of 10.15%. Over the last 10 years the trust has traded at a much smaller discount of 4.02%.