Fantasy fund manager: Moira O’Neill
The winner of last year’s competition reveals her trust picks for this year.
In the AIC’s second fantasy fund manager competition, we’ve asked six journalists to select four investment trusts that they expect to perform particularly well in 2026, but would be happy to hold for the long term. Below, last year’s winner Moira O’Neill reveals which four trusts she’s selected and why she chose them for this year.
Personal Assets Trust
Having delivered a nearly 30% return in 2025 with my investment trust picks, I’m now feeling cautious.
With this in mind, I’m going to start with some capital preservation in the form of Personal Assets Trust. This aims to protect and increase shareholders’ funds over the long-term by investing in equities, fixed income securities, cash and cash equivalents (which may include gold). Personal Assets holds a lot of fixed income too. I think bond markets offer opportunities for income now and the potential for total return as yields come down.
Personal Assets Trust profile page
Golden Prospect Precious Metals
I did well out of gold and silver in my personal portfolio in 2025 by holding exchange-traded commodities that track the prices of these precious metals. I think gold and silver could continue to shine in 2026 but it’s also a good time to look to the miners which often lag the physical metals in performance. Golden Prospect Precious Metals focuses on the small and mid cap segments of the gold mining industry and is trading at a healthy discount. The trust delivered excellent returns in 2025 but I think there’s plenty more to come.
Golden Prospect Precious Metals profile page
Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund
I’m also going to pick Schroder UK Mid Cap which has returned to outperformance in its latest annual results. The managers have successfully captured the resurgence in defence-related stocks, with names like Chemring, Babcock International and QinetiQ among the largest contributors to the trust's outperformance.
European nations have committed to increased defence spending since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, and the continuation of conflict around the globe seems inevitable. It’s possible bargain UK mid caps could benefit from a rotation out of the leading US stocks.
Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund profile page
Templeton Emerging Markets Trust
What else to add for a bit of spice? Last year emerging markets finally bounced back with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index up 25% in sterling terms. The weakening of the dollar in recent months means emerging markets will begin to attract more investment once again. Asian emerging markets in particular should continue to benefit from AI enthusiasm.
Templeton Emerging Markets Trust has an 81% exposure to Asia and beat its benchmark index by a big margin in 2025. The managers say despite last year’s strong run, emerging market equities remain deeply discounted compared to developed markets. Let’s hope that translates into continued stonking share price performance from this trust in 2026.
Templeton Emerging Markets profile page
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