Top 10 most-popular investment trusts: September 2020
Investment trust investors had a clear bias towards both technology and healthcare stocks in September.
1st October 2020 15:25
by Tom Bailey from interactive investor
Investment trust investors had a clear bias towards both technology and healthcare stocks in September.
Investment trust investors had a clear bias towards both technology and healthcare stocks in September, according to the latest most-bought data among interactive investor customers.
The latest stats show that the most-bought investment trust was once again Scottish Mortgage (LSE:SMT). While the trust is not strictly a tech-focused trust, with a focus on global equities, its portfolio is full of big technology names such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Tencent (SEHK:700). That has served the trust well: over the past year, the trust’s performance is just shy of 100%.
In second place was Allianz Technology Trust (LSE:ATT). The trust sits in the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) technology specialist sector and despite a global mandate primarily invests in US tech companies. Over the past year, the trust has returned around 58%. However, its performance on the month is flat.
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Polar Capital Technology (LSE:PCT)managed to keep its position in third place. The trust is another technology specialist trust. Over the past year, the trust has returned investors just over 47%.
Edinburgh Worldwide (LSE:EWI) gained one place compared to the previous month. The trust, as the name suggests, has a global investment mandate. However, as with Scottish Mortgage, it has a bias towards both US and tech stocks, with North America accounting for over half its portfolio. Among its largest holdings are Ocado (LSE:OCDO), Tesla and Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC). Over the past year, it has returned investors just over 58%.
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The popularity for Big Tech is also shown by Baillie Gifford US Growth (LSE:USA). The trust was launched just over two years ago. However, during that time it has provided investors with strong returns. Over the past year alone, it has returned over 100%.
A new entrant for September was Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (LSE:BGS). The investment trust focuses on Japanese smaller companies. Japan has been in the news in recent weeks following the resignation of prime minister Shinzo Abe. The economic reforms of the now-former leader, known as Abenomics, were often cited by fund managers as part of their thesis for investing in Japanese equities. However, Abe’s successor is widely expected to stick with these reforms. Over the past month, the Shin Nippon trust has provided an outstanding return of 21.3%.
Another new entrant has been Fidelity China Special Situations (LSE:FCSS). Investor sentiment towards China has been increasingly positive in recent weeks, with the country’s economy seen as strongly recovering from the economic shock of Covid-19. Over the past year, the trust has returned investors around 55%.
Top 10 most popular trusts: Sept 2020
| Trust | Sector | Rank change from August | 1-month performance to October 1 (%) | 1-year performance to October 1 (%) | |
| 1 | Scottish Mortgage | Global | no change | 3.1 | 97.8 |
| 2 | Allianz Technology | Technology & Media | up 2 | 0 | 58.1 |
| 3 | Polar Capital Technology Trust | Technology & Media | no change | -5.1 | 47.1 |
| 4 | Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon | Japan | new entry | 21.3 | 30.8 |
| 5 | Edinburgh Worldwide | Global Smaller Companies | up 1 | 5.4 | 58.7 |
| 6 | City of London | UK Equity Income | up 2 | -2.2 | -21.1 |
| 7 | Baillie Gifford US Growth | North America | new entry | 8.2 | 101.5 |
| 8 | Monks Investment trust | Global | up 2 | -1.9 | 24.9 |
| =9 | Murray International | Global Equity Income | down 2 | -0.1 | -16.6 |
| =9 | Fidelity China Special Sits | Asia Pacific ex Japan | new entry | 3.4 | 55.5 |
Source: Interactive investor. Note: the top 10 is based on the number of “buys” during the month of September.
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.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. 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.