Discount Delver: the 10 cheapest trusts on 4 April 2025

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).   

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.   

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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. 

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Stock markets are in risk-off mode in response to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which will hit profits in various sectors and industries.

In terms of investment trusts, adventurous strategies have seen their discounts widen the most as investors look to take risk off the table.

Topping the table this week is VietNam Holding (LSE:VNH), which has seen its discount increase by nearly nine percentage points to -13.8%. It is joined by peer VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund  (LSE:VOF), in third place, with its discount jumping by nearly six percentage points to -30.5%. Asian countries were handed significantly higher tariffs compared to the UK (10%) and European Union (20%), with Vietnam hit with a tariff of 46%.

In second place is Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE:SSIT). Its discount rose nearly seven percentage points to -50.8%. As its name suggests, it invests in companies involved in space, such as satellite firms. In fourth place is another trust in the Growth Capital sector, Petershill Partners (LSE:PHLL), which has seen its discount rise close to six percentage points to -32.1%.

Three private equity trusts also feature this week, which is reflective of investors having less appetite for risk with private assets amid the pick-up in volatility for public stock markets. HgCapital Trust (LSE:HGT), CT Private Equity Trust (LSE:CTPE) and Pantheon International (LSE:PIN) have all seen their discounts widen.

Unlike in public markets, the valuations of private equity companies are set behind closed doors, which makes it hard for investors to ascertain how valuations have re-priced when stock markets experience a rough patch. 

Manchester & London (LSE:MNL) and Lindsell Train (LSE:LTI) investment trusts both feature in this week’s table. They are highly concentrated portfolios, meaning investors need to have a stomach for risk. 

Source: Morningstar. *Data from close of trading 27 March 2025 to 3 April 2025.