AVI Global Trust (ticker: AGT) was founded in 1889 and has been managed by Asset Value Investors (AVI) for the last four decades, over which time it has returned 11.3% per year. Joe Bauernfreund has acted as its lead manager since 2015. AGT seeks to buy quality companies trading at a discount to their net assets, and it holds a concentrated portfolio of closed-ended funds and European/Asian family-run holding companies, recently increasing its exposure towards Korea. Its portfolio looks very different from most other global trusts, tilted away from the US and with a much smaller average market...
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UPDATE: In September 2026, LTI said it would launch a 20% tender offer, buying back shares at a 5% discount to NAV.
Lindsell Train Investment Trust (ticker: LTI) was launched in 2001 and is run by Nick Train. It holds a concentrated global portfolio of quality-focused equities, plus around a quarter of the shares of Lindsell Train Limited, the management firm for all of Lindsell Train's funds. The latter initially made up only a small proportion of net assets, but as Lindsell Train's funds under management soared to over £20bn, it grew to represent nearly half of the trust's portfolio, and LT...
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UPDATE: This trust was merged into Invesco Global Equity Income (IGET) in February 2026.
Franklin Global Trust (ticker: FRGT) was launched in 1999 as Martin Currie Portfolio. Initially, it had a significant UK equity bias, but since 2011, it has been managed as a global equity trust. Zehrid Osmani became the lead manager in 2019, taking over from Tom Walker, who had looked after the portfolio since 2000. Osmani is focused on quality growth and ESG, and the portfolio moved from around 50 positions to a more concentrated level of around 30. It outperformed in the years ending January 2020 and 2...
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After being listed for around a decade in the 1970s, Manchester & London (MNL) rejoined the market in 1997. The Sheppard family has held a controlling interest for much of the trust's existence and now owns nearly 60% of the shares, a stake worth around £160m. Mark Sheppard took over as lead manager from his father around 2013 and soon after reinvented the trust's investment philosophy, moving away from value and into high-growth technology stocks. The portfolio has always been very concentrated but has become even more so in the last few years with Sheppard honing in on AI as the key them...
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Update (Sep 2026): MWY's early struggles under Lazard have continued with the trust returning -5% in the year to June 2025 versus +7% for its benchmark, and +2% versus +28% to June 2026. It has continued to buy back significant amounts of its shares under its discount control policy, with its share count falling from around 48m to 26m over the last two years and its market cap decreasing to £200m.
Mid Wynd International (MWY) was listed in 1981, although it can trace its corporate roots back to the 18th century. It has been a global equity trust for the last four decades, managed by Baillie G...
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UPDATE: Scottish Mortgage has continued to bounce back since June 2024, with SpaceX becoming its largest holding, and its share price touching the level it hit in late 2021. The NAV total return for the year to March 2025 was 11%, followed by 27% for the year to March 2026. In early 2026, it asked shareholders to give it more flexibility regarding the level of its private investments, but this concern has since lessened due to the IPO of SpaceX.
Scottish Mortgage (ticker: SMT) was founded in 1909 and has been managed by Baillie Gifford throughout its existence. For the last several decades, i...
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Bankers Investment Trust (ticker: BNKR) was launched in 1888 and has been managed by Janus Henderson, under various guises, since 1970. Alex Crooke has been the trust's lead manager since 2003. Bankers has long had a large, diversified global equity portfolio but has historically been overweight the UK market and underweight the US. While this tilt has been significantly reduced in recent years, it has hampered recent performance relative to both world markets and other global trusts. Over the last twenty years under Crooke, Bankers boasts a small lead over global markets with an annualised NA...
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UPDATE: In late 2024, Witan was merged into Alliance Trust, forming Alliance Witan (ATW).
Witan Investment Trust (ticker: WTAN) was launched in 1909 to manage the assets of the Henderson family and it was listed on the London market in 1924. Henderson Administration (now part of Janus Henderson) was formed to run the trust's portfolio in the 1930s, a state of affairs that continued until 2004 at which time Witan decided to become self-managed and started using a multi-manager approach. Today, Witan has six managers devoted to its core strategies, two with more specialised mandates, and also p...
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UPDATE (Oct 2026): In the year to November 2023, BUT returned +8.7% versus +5,5% for its benchmark, followed by +17.9% versus +23.6% to November 2024, +9.0% versus +15.8% to November 2025, and +5.6% versus +12.0% in the six months to May 2026. James Ashworth was appointed co-lead manager alongside Julian Bishop in December 2025. Christian Schneider and Simon Gergel continue to provide investment support as named deputy managers. The trust's discount has widened a little and averaged 10% over the year to October 2026.
Brunner Investment Trust (ticker: BUT) was launched in 1927 by the Brunner f...
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UPDATE (Oct 2026): In late 2024, Alliance Trust merged with Witan, another large global equity trust, forming Alliance Witan (ALW), which now has over £5bn of assets. In 2023, ALW returned +21.6% versus +15.3% for its benchmark. In 2024, it was +13.3% versus +19.6%, and in 2025 it was +4.7% versus +13.9%. The first half of 2026 saw a 7.0% return versus +12.7% for its benchmark, with the board asking Willis Towers Watson to conduct a structured review of the investment strategy, including Stock Picker selection, stock selection, portfolio construction, and risk management, in light of the trust...
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