The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has published a list of the 20 most viewed investment trusts on its website theaic.co.uk during 2024.
Income is an overarching theme. More than half (11) of the 20 most viewed investment trusts are AIC dividend heroes, having increased their dividends for at least 20 years in a row. Another five trusts have increased dividends for at least ten years but less than 20.
Nine of the 20 are from the equity income sectors. Five of these are focused on UK equities, three on global equities and one on Asia Pacific equities. The average yield of the 20 most viewed trusts is 3.9%, compared to 3.3% for the average investment trust.
Six of the investment trusts are in the Global sector, five in UK Equity Income, and three in the Global Equity Income sector. Other sectors featured in the top 20 most viewed trusts are Renewable Energy Infrastructure, UK All Companies, North America, Commodities & Natural Resources and Flexible Investment.
Top 20 most viewed investment trusts on theaic.co.uk in 2024
| 2024 rank | 2023 rank | Trust name | AIC sector | Share price total return % | Yield % | ||
| 1 yr | 5 yrs | 10 yrs | |||||
| 1 ↑ | 2 | JPMorgan Global Growth & Income | Global Equity Income | 19.8 | 101.9 | 292.4 | 3.8 |
| 2 ↓ | 1 | City of London Investment Trust | UK Equity Income | 10.6 | 25.1 | 80.1 | 4.8 |
| 3 ↑ | 6 | Alliance Witan* | Global | 14.3 | 64.9 | 221.6 | 2.1 |
| 4 ↓ | 3 | Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust | Global | 18.8 | 68.6 | 309.8 | 0.4 |
| 5 = | 5 | Murray International Trust | Global Equity Income | 4.5 | 29.5 | 99.1 | 4.4 |
| 6 ↑ | 7 | F&C Investment Trust | Global | 16.9 | 56.5 | 212.2 | 1.3 |
| 7 ↑ | 9 | Scottish American | Global Equity Income | -4.1 | 34.1 | 171.7 | 2.8 |
| 8 ↓ | 4 | Merchants Trust | UK Equity Income | 3.9 | 30.0 | 100.8 | 5.2 |
| 9 ↑ | 11 | Brunner Investment Trust | Global | 24.7 | 79.6 | 249.7 | 1.7 |
| 10 = | 10 | Bankers Investment Trust | Global | 15.1 | 29.4 | 148.6 | 2.3 |
| 11 ↑ | 13 | Law Debenture Corporation | UK Equity Income | 15.9 | 72.4 | 147.5 | 3.6 |
| 12 ↑ | 16 | Greencoat UK Wind | Renewable Energy Infrastructure | -8.6 | 13.4 | 104.6 | 8.1 |
| 13 ↓ | 8 | Henderson Far East Income | Asia Pacific Equity Income | 19.2 | -2.6 | 47.3 | 10.6 |
| 14 ↑ | – | Pershing Square Holdings | North America | 3.9 | 166.2 | 117.4 | 1.1 |
| 15 ↑ | 17 | BlackRock World Mining | Commodities & Natural Resources | -12.7 | 69.9 | 184.4 | 6.7 |
| 16 ↓ | 14 | Caledonia Investments | Flexible Investment | 0.5 | 29.9 | 101.1 | 1.9 |
| 17 ↓ | 12 | Murray Income Trust | UK Equity Income | -1.2 | 13.3 | 67.5 | 4.6 |
| 18 = | 18 | abrdn Equity Income Trust | UK Equity Income | 13.2 | 10.4 | 34.7 | 7.0 |
| 19 ↑ | – | Mercantile Investment Trust | UK All Companies | 11.1 | 7.3 | 123.4 | 3.3 |
| 20 ↑ | – | AVI Global Trust | Global | 13.1 | 72.1 | 189.2 | 1.4 |
Source: theaic.co.uk / Morningstar (share price total return to 31/12/24, yields as at 16/01/25). In the 2023 column a hyphen (-) denotes a new entrant to the top 20 most viewed trusts in 2024. * Views for Alliance Witan include views for Alliance Trust before the merger with Witan Investment Trust.
Top five investment trusts
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income from the Global Equity Income sectorwas the most viewed investment trust in 2024. The trust is managed by Helge Skibeli, James Cook and Timothy Woodhouse. It has total assets of £3.1 billion and delivered a share price total return of 19.8% in 2024 and yields 3.8%.
City of London was the second most viewed trust in 2024, having previously been the most viewed for the last two years in a row. The trust is managed by Job Curtis and invests in UK equities. An AIC dividend hero, it holds the longest track record of consistently increasing its dividend every year, having done so for the last 58 years. With more than £2.3 billion of total assets, it delivered a share price total return of 10.6% in 2024 and yields 4.8%.
Alliance Witan was the third most viewed trust. It was formed following the merger of Alliance Trust with Witan Investment Trust in October 2024. The trust has total assets of £5.8 billion and joined the FTSE 100 in December. With AIC dividend hero status, it has consistently increased its dividend for 57 years and delivered a return of 14.3% in 2024. It yields 2.1%.
Completing the top five are Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Murray International Trust, having returned 18.8% and 4.5% respectively over the last 12 months and yielding 0.4% and 4.4%.
New entrants
Three new entrants joined thetop 20 list which did not feature in 2023’s list. Pershing Square entered the list in 14th place as the highest-ranked new entrant. The other new entrants were Mercantile Investment Trust (19th) and AVI Global Trust (20th).
Annabel Brodie-Smith, Communications Director of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “With banks adjusting the rates on cash savings downwards, it’s no surprise that investment trusts with long track records of dividend growth continued to be popular with investors last year. One of the key benefits of investment trusts is their ability to pay dividend income to investors even during tough times. However, it’s important to remember that dividends are never guaranteed.
“The AIC’s website provides investors with helpful investment trust information, from portfolio holdings to performance and discount data to enable investors to easily compare and choose trusts. Investors can readily access all the factsheets and annual reports without having to spend valuable time sifting through multiple web pages.”
For more information on how the AIC’s website can help investors research and monitor investment trusts, visit the Research tools page on theaic.co.uk.
