F&C Investment Trust: May 2026 update

• Paul Niven uses a multi-manager approach to invest in both public and private companies from across the world

• The trust has performed better than its benchmark and the sector average since Niven became manager in 2014

• The trust boasts an impressive dividend record, with the dividend increasing for 55 consecutive years

How it fits in a portfolio

F&C Investment Trust aims to grow capital over the long term by investing in companies from around the globe. Developed markets like the US, Europe, and Japan are the primary focus but it also invests in higher-risk emerging markets. The trust also aims to grow its dividend each year.

The manager takes advantage of the trust’s closed-ended structure by investing in early-stage private companies. The rewards in private markets can be attractive but these companies are higher risk since they are less liquid – meaning they can be harder to sell. By tapping into all corners of the market, the trust could add diversification to an investment portfolio designed for growth or complement an income-focused portfolio.

Investors in closed-ended funds should be aware trusts can trade at a discount or premium to their net asset value (NAV).

Manager

Paul Niven joined what was then Foreign & Colonial (now Columbia Threadneedle – or CT) as a graduate in 1996. He initially analysed Asian companies but has spent much of his career focused on asset allocation (deciding how much to invest in different assets, such as shares or bonds). He’s now lead manager of several funds and is CT’s Head of Multi-Asset Portfolio Management.

Niven is the 11th manager of F&C Investment Trust and has been at the helm since July 2014. He doesn’t do all the investing by himself though. The trust is divided into different segments, each with their own dedicated manager. The majority are run in-house by CT, but external managers are also used where he feels they offer a good alternative. Each manager has different strengths, styles, and areas of focus which are blended together and monitored closely. This is known as a ‘multi-manager’ approach.

Process

Niven guides the asset allocation and manages the level of risk the trust takes. His framework centres around four pillars: economy, policy, valuation, and behavioural factors.

Key economic indicators such as inflation and economic growth rates are monitored for different regions, alongside the level of support from governments and central banks. Niven and his team then assess how expensive or cheap the stock market in each region is compared to its history and other similar markets. Finally, they assess how sentiment is changing towards each region.

The underlying portfolios are each managed by different managers, most of which are run in-house by CT which helps to keep costs down. Where Niven believes CT doesn’t have market leading capabilities and insights, such as the exposure to US growth companies, he uses external alternatives. This approach means the trust is well diversified and provides exposure to around 350-400 companies.

Historically the trust had a much larger amount invested in the UK, but the country now accounts for just 3.5% of assets. 54.8% is invested in North America, which is slightly less than the amount in the global stock market. The remainder of the trust is invested in a mix of Europe, Japan, and higher-risk emerging markets. Niven can also allocate to smaller companies, which add risk, but hasn’t done so since 2021.

At the end of March, 11.6% of the trust was invested in private companies. These are companies that aren’t listed on the stock market, but Niven believes they offer long-term growth potential.

Over the past financial year, the most significant change was the switch in fund manager used for the trust’s investments in emerging markets. This portion of the trust was previously managed by the emerging markets team at CT, but Niven now invests through the emerging markets team at Invesco. We think it’s positive then Niven is happy to look for expertise outside of CT to enhance the trust’s potential. At the end of 2025, 37.7% of the trust’s portfolio was managed outside of CT. Other changes to the trust included decreases in the allocations to US Core and Global Enhanced portions of the portfolio. On the other hand, Niven now invests more of the trust in Global Income and emerging markets.

The trust uses gearing (borrowing to invest), which can magnify gains but also increase losses, so it’s higher-risk. The level of gearing at the end of December 2025 was 8.0% which was a slight reduction from 8.6% the previous year. Niven also has the flexibility to use derivatives, which can add risk.

Culture

F&C Investment Trust is the oldest investment trust in existence, having been founded in 1868 as a way for everyday people to pool their resources to invest. Nowadays the trust is part of CT, previously BMO, a large multinational financial services company headquartered in Canada. On 8 November 2021, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, which is part of Ameriprise Financial, acquired BMO’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) asset management business. CT now manages the trust, and the board remains comfortable that little will change in light of these developments.

Alongside the trust, Niven manages several other CT funds. These include multi-asset funds of varying risk levels and sustainable versions of them. While Niven has significant responsibilities, he has the support of a large team so we’re comfortable he can handle his workload and dedicate the required time to managing this trust.

ESG Integration

CT believes well-managed companies that look to the future are better positioned to navigate the risks and challenges inherent in business. In recent years the firm has developed several proprietary tools, including a company rating system that combines an assessment of how well a company manages its ‘financial stewardship’ with a view of how well it manages its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. Both aspects are combined into a single forward-looking rating from 1 to 5. Our meetings with fund managers at CT suggest the ESG tools are relatively well-used by the investment teams, and managers are generally aligned with the view that an understanding of ESG factors is essential in developing a full view of a company’s risk/reward profile.

The firm’s Active Ownership team coordinates voting and engagement activity. Engagement generally focuses on the current and emerging ESG issues that the team thinks will have the greatest impact on long term investment returns, the economy, the environment, and society. The team also undertakes event-driven engagement in response to unscheduled or controversial events. All engagement is tracked in a company-wide database and accessible to all research analysts and portfolio managers.

Engagement progress and voting activity is reported to investors in a quarterly and an annual Stewardship report. The firm also writes frequent thought leadership and insight articles.

Although this trust doesn’t have a sustainable mandate, Niven ensures all fund managers he invests with integrate ESG analysis into their decision making and are signatories of UNPRI.

Cost

The ongoing annual charge over the trust’s last financial year to 31 December 2025 was 0.45%, which was the same as the previous year. Investors should refer to the latest annual reports and accounts, and Key Information Document for details of the risks and charging structure.

We recently made some changes to the amount clients pay to invest with us. Find out more about these changes.

The annual charge to hold investment trusts in the HL ISA, SIPP, or Fund & Share Account is 0.35% (capped at £150 p.a. in each account) and 0.25% in the HL Lifetime ISA (capped at £45 p.a.). There are no charges from HL to hold investment trusts within the HL Junior ISA. As investment trusts trade like shares, both a buy and sell instruction will be subject to the HL share dealing charges.

Performance

Since Niven took over management of the trust in July 2014, it has performed better than its benchmark, the FTSE All World Index. Over this time, the trust returned 316.41%* compared to the benchmark’s 312.35%. The trust has also performed better than the 213.27% average returns in the AIC Global sector. The trust’s NAV rose 298.55% over this period. Past performance isn’t a guide to the future. All investments can fall and rise in value so you may get back less than you invest.

Over the trust’s financial year to the end of December 2025, the share price return of 14.64% was on par with the benchmark’s growth of 14.65% and ahead of the AIC Global sector average of 8.11%. The trust’s NAV increased by 12.06%.

The best performing part of the trust in 2025 was the emerging markets portfolio. Technology companies, particularly in Korea, contributed positively to performance. The trust’s investments in Japan also contributed positively to returns, although the portfolio was slightly behind the broader Japanese market.

The trust’s investments in the US detracted from performance. The value strategy managed by the internal team at CT performed well, but this was offset by the value strategy managed externally by Barrow Hanley. The US growth portfolio, managed by JPMorgan, also detracted from performance as it had less invested in high-growth technology companies which performed strongly over the year.

The trust’s investments in private companies also detracted from performance, with returns of 5.3% trailing those from public markets.

The total dividend per share for the year to 31 December 2025 was 16.6p, an increase of 6.4% on the previous year. The trust is an AIC ‘dividend hero’, having increased its dividend for 55 consecutive years.

At the time of writing the trust trades on a 7.82% discount, which is slightly lower than its 12-month average of 8.11%. The trust currently yields 1.28%. Yields are variable and aren’t a reliable indicator of future income.