F&C Investment Trust (ticker: FCIT) was the first investment company to be launched in 1868. Originally set up to invest in overseas government securities, over several decades it gradually branched out into corporate debt and then equities. Today it is one of the largest global equity trusts, with assets of over £5bn and a 51-year record of increasing its dividend. F&C has around 400 individual holdings, spread over ten strategies, with 13% of its assets in private companies. The trust uses some external managers for its US holdings and private equity positions but around 60% of its p...