JPMorgan Global Growth & Income Investment Trust: December 2025 update

• A well-resourced team with analyst coverage in all corners of the market

• The trust utilises a unique way of paying dividends, committing to 4% dividends based on the trust's net asset value from the prior financial year end

• The trust has performed well since the current managers took over in 2019

How it fits in a portfolio

The JPMorgan Global Growth and Income trust aims to grow your investment over the long term by investing in companies from across the globe. The managers can invest anywhere in the world, including higher-risk emerging markets, but they tend to invest more in developed regions like the US and Europe. The managers can also invest in smaller companies, which increases risk, but they don’t often use that option.

Tapping into all corners of the market, the trust could add diversification to an investment portfolio focused on a single market or act as a building block in a diversified global portfolio.

When investing in closed-ended funds you should be aware the trust can trade at a discount or premium to net asset value (NAV).

Manager

The management team is led by Helge Skibeli. He has worked at JPMorgan since 1990 and is a portfolio manager within the International Equity team. He was previously CIO of the International Equities Research Driven team and before that was the Global Head of Developed Market Equity Research. Skibeli also manages several other JPMorgan Global Equity funds that invest in a similar way.

Skibeli’s supported by co-managers James Cook and Sam Witherow. Cook became a manager on the trust in 2023. He joined JPMorgan as a graduate trainee in 2007. Before joining the international equity team in 2019, he was a research analyst covering financials and managed JPMorgan’s Global Financials fund.

Witherow joined the trust’s management team in September 2025, following the departure of previous manager Tim Woodhouse to JPMorgan’s US Equities team. His career began at JPMorgan in 2008 and he was previously an analyst for the energy sector before going on to manage a number of income-focused funds.

Process

Skibeli and the team build a portfolio of high-conviction ideas from across the world. The companies in the trust are some of the analyst team’s best ideas, with a focus on attractively valued companies who are growing their earnings faster than peers.

To identify opportunities, the managers use the fundamental company research carried out by JPMorgan’s large in-house analyst team. Analysts are located all over the world and cover 2,500 companies across global stock markets. They often communicate with analysts in other regions that cover the same industries, giving a wider perspective on market dynamics. There’s a focus on cashflows and mid to long-term earnings when assessing an individual company.

When selecting investments for the trust, the managers look to build a concentrated group of 50-90 stocks. The trust tends to be towards the bottom of that range. They draw on the research done by the analysts, focusing on three key criteria.

A company must have significant upside potential to its earnings.

The team must have a clear understanding of why the company is different to competitors and what gives it an edge over its peers.

The companies must be high-quality and trading at attractive valuations.

The trust also commits to paying a dividend. It aims to pay dividends totalling 4% of the trust’s net asset value at the end of the prior financial year. If income received from investments is below the amount needed to pay the 4% dividend, the trust will use capital reserves to fund the remainder of the dividend. This is a feature of investment trusts that isn’t available to open-ended funds. The investment style used by the managers means the trust typically generates less dividend income than peers and it should be expected that the trust will need to make use of this feature to meet their dividend commitment most of the time. Paying income from capital means the trust may have to sell assets in order to fund dividends, which reduces the prospect of future capital growth. The impact of their investment style and use of capital to pay income means that performance can be different to the AIC Global Equity Income sector.

The managers currently find plenty of opportunities in the US and companies there make up 73% of the trust. This is more than the comparative benchmark. On a sector basis, the trust has plenty of exposure to technology hardware and media companies. The retail sector makes up 9.3% of the trust and this is more than double than in the benchmark.

There’ve been a number of changes to the trust’s investments over the past year as the managers continue to find opportunities. The managers made new investments in American Express and Swedish car manufacturer Volvo. Japanese companies Sony and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial were also added to the trust.

To make room for these new companies, the managers sold their investment in Korean semiconductor business SK Hynix. They also sold a number of investments in the consumer defensive sector, including Nestle, PepsiCo, and Diageo.

The managers have the option to use gearing (borrowing to invest), which can improve gains but also increase losses, making it a higher-risk approach. The managers don’t use this option much and gearing currently stands at 0.24%. This is below the trust’s limit of 20%. They also have the flexibility to use derivatives, which can add risk. Potential investors should refer to the latest annual reports and accounts for details of the risks and charging structure.

Culture

JP Morgan is one of the world's largest asset managers. It has investment professionals based all over the world, and the team behind this trust can tap into this experience and local knowledge. The group is home to a strong global offering and the team is stable, with low turnover among senior members.

The three managers of this trust all have long tenures at JPMorgan, with two spending their whole career to date at the firm. This highlights that the culture at JP Morgan suits the managers of the trust, which we think is important in both their retention and performance potential going forward.

ESG Integration

JPMorgan committed to integrate Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) factors into its investment processes for active funds in 2016 and ESG is now a foundation for investment decisions across the firm. JPMorgan funds take a variety of different approaches, from quantitatively scoring companies on a variety of ESG measures to help with portfolio construction, to more qualitative analysis achieved through fundamental research and company meetings.

All fund managers have access to the central Sustainable Investing team, as well as thematic research and analytics, which focus on climate change and carbon transition. Investment teams are required to demonstrate their progress on integrating ESG to the Sustainable Investment Oversight Committee, a group of senior managers from across the business. Their progress is measured against a 6-metric framework and must satisfy several conditions before being certified as ‘ESG Integrated’. If the strategy doesn’t meet this threshold, the investment team in question will need to incorporate feedback from the Committee and apply to restart the review process. Investment teams are then subject to ongoing monitoring. We like this objective approach to internal ESG accreditation.

The firm has detailed voting policies which are specific to each region they invest in and account for local customs. Investment teams and investment stewardship specialists in the relevant region are responsible for implementing those policies, based on their deep knowledge and experience of the country, sector, and company. A detailed fund-by-fund and company-by-company voting record is available on the JPMorgan website, although a voting rationale isn’t provided. Fund managers also regularly engage with the companies they invest in, and there are a number of case studies on their website and in their annual Investment Stewardship report.

In February 2024, JPMorgan Asset Management controversially withdrew from the Climate Action 100+ collaborative engagement initiative, citing that it had built up its own stewardship capabilities. Following a meeting with the firm’s Global Head of Sustainable Investing, we were left feeling confident that it remains firmly committed to sustainability.

Although the managers integrate ESG factors into their investment process, this trust doesn’t have a sustainable mandate.

Cost

The ongoing annual charge over the trust’s financial year to 30 June 2025 was 0.39%. This is a slight reduction from the previous year’s charges of 0.43%.

In May 2025 the trust merged with Henderson International Income Trust and the ongoing charges this year include a management fee waiver in relation to the merger. Without any waivers, the estimated ongoing charge was 0.44%.

Investors should refer to the latest annual reports and accounts, and Key Information Document for details of the risks and charging structure. If held in a SIPP or ISA, the HL platform charge of 0.45% per annum (capped at £200 per annum for a SIPP and £45 for an ISA) also applies. The platform charge doesn’t apply if the trust is held in a Fund and Share Account.

Investment trusts trade like shares, so both a buy and sell instruction will be subject to the HL share dealing charges.

Performance

The trust has performed well since Skibeli became manager in March 2019, returning 142.28%*. This is compared to 130.12% for the trust’s MSCI ACWI benchmark and the AIC Global Equity Income sector average of 49.68%. During this time the NAV has risen 154.86%. Past performance isn’t a guide to the future. Investments can fall as well as rise in value so you could get back less than you invest.

The trust’s share price fell 1.60% in its financial year to the end of June 2025. This was behind the 7.64% growth of the index and the average trust in the sector, which returned 7.08%. The trust’s NAV made a modest gain of 0.97% over the same period.

Investments in the healthcare sector were among the detractors. The share price of Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk fell more than 50% in the year to June 2025 as the company lost market leadership in the development of obesity drugs. Consumer companies also held back performance, with investments in luxury goods business LVMH and US discount retailer Ross Stores performing poorly.

In a period where excitement over Artificial Intelligence was a notable driver of market performance, the theme provided mixed results for the trust. Investments in Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company were both positive contributors to performance. Conversely, the managers’ decision not to invest in Broadcom detracted.

The trust currently trades at a discount of 3.32%. Since the managers took over in April 2019, it has traded at an average premium of 1.30%. The trust currently yields 3.99%, although income isn’t guaranteed and yields aren’t an indication of future income.