Discount Delver: the 10 cheapest trusts on 1 November 2024
We reveal the biggest investment trust discount changes over the past week.
1st November 2024 08:49
by Kyle Caldwell from interactive investor
Investment trusts, due to their closed-ended structure, offer investors the chance of picking up a potential bargain. Such an opportunity arises when a trust’s share price is lower than the underlying investments held by the trust (the net asset value, or NAV).  Â
However, a trust trading on a discount to NAV is not necessarily a buying opportunity. There’s likely a good reason why the trust is cheap, such as subdued short- or long-term performance, or poor investor sentiment towards how it invests.  Â
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In our weekly series, interactive investor highlights the 10 biggest investment trust discount moves over the past week.
In total, nearly 400 investment trusts have been screened, with the data sourced from Morningstar. Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) have been excluded. We also strip out trusts with less than £20 million in assets and those that are not available on the interactive investor platform.Â
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This week we ran the data to the end of Wednesday, with the table below reflecting discount movements from 23 October to 30 October.
Two UK investment trusts made this week’s table, with Artemis Alpha Trust (LSE:ATS) seeing its discount widen by nearly four percentage points to -11.7%, and BlackRock Income and Growth (LSE:BRIG) seeing a two and a half percentage point rise to -13.8%.
On the whole, as our columnist Ian Cowie recently pointed out, discounts for UK equity trusts do not look terribly cheap. In fact, BlackRock Income and Growth has the widest discount in its 19-member sector. The average discount for the UK equity income trust sector is -5.8%.
The biggest mover over the five-trading day period was Molten Ventures (LSE:GROW). It is in the growth capital sector, which groups investment trusts that invest in unquoted companies.
Such strategies are at the higher end of the risk spectrum, reflected by Molten Ventures returning in share price terms 62.4% over the past year, but losing -19.4% over five years.
| Investment trust | Sector | Current discount (%) | Discount/premium change over past week* (%) |
| Molten Ventures (LSE:GROW) | Growth Capital | -50.89 | -4.70 |
| Greencoat Renewables (LSE:GRP) | Renewable Energy Infrastructure | -20.29 | -3.70 |
| Artemis Alpha Trust (LSE:ATS) | UK All Companies | -11.65 | -3.60 |
| Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust (LSE:SBSI) | Flexible Investment | -25.20 | -3.60 |
| Manchester & London (LSE:MNL) | Global | -20.19 | -3.10 |
| CT Private Equity Trust (LSE:CTPE) | Private Equity | -39.14 | -3.00 |
| Riverstone Credit Opportunities Income (LSE:RCOI) | Debt - Direct Lending | -17.44 | -2.80 |
| GCP Asset Backed Income (LSE:GABI) | Debt - Direct Lending | -15.23 | -2.70 |
| Digital 9 Infrastructure Ord (LSE:DGI9) | Infrastructure | -63.91 | -2.70 |
| BlackRock Income and Growth Ord (LSE:BRIG) | UK Equity Income | -13.83 | -2.50 |
Source: Morningstar. *Data from close of trading 23 October 2024 to close of trading 30 October 2024.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Â Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. Â The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.