Citywire Investment Trust Awards 2024: The funds on our shortlists!
It has been another challenging year for London-listed investment funds, but with interest rates falling and reform of damaging cost disclosure rules on the way, the outlook for the sector has brightened.
With this in mind, it is the perfect time to look forward to the annual Citywire Investment Trust Awards.
A total of 63 closed-end funds are in the running for our 18 Performance Awards and Best Board Award this year. The winners will be revealed at an event in London on Monday 4 November.
The performance awards are given to investment companies judged to have delivered the best underlying return in terms of growth in net asset value (NAV) in the three years to 31 August. As in previous years, funds investing in publicly-listed equities are ranked on risk-adjusted performance against their benchmark indices, while funds investing in other asset classes are either assessed for risk-adjusted returns against cash or by simple growth in their NAV.
The data underpinning the awards is produced by Frank Talbot, Citywire’s head of investment research, and verified by our panel of independent judges. They are:
- James Burns, head of managed portfolio services at Evelyn Partners.
- Charlotte Cuthbertson, fund manager at Asset Value Investors.
- Mick Gilligan, head of managed portfolio services at Killik & Co.
- Ewan Lovett-Turner, head of investment companies research at Deutsche Numis Securities.
Performance awards
Winning an award is not easy, with investment companies only gaining an honour if their fund management team has added significant value over the market return.
This year’s standout sector is North American Equities where there is only one nominee, and therefore no shortlist, because only one investment trust scored a sufficiently good three-year risk-adjusted score!
In all the other sectors, there are contenders competing for the prize, although there are just two apiece going head to head in UK All Companies and UK Equity Income.
In Asia Pacific Equities, we see First Sentier stable mates Pacific Assets and Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies vie with each other, which is interesting as they are run by different teams within the same group.
In Emerging Market Single Country, last year’s winner, Vietnam Holding, is looking to take the prize again but faces up to VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund which would love to grab the award in a year in which it sadly lost fund manager Andy Ho.
In a year that has seen a surge in corporate activity, we see the newly merged Henderson European Trust hoping to see off four rivals in European Equities.
Here are the shortlists:Asia Pacific Equities
- Fidelity Asian Values (FAS )
- Invesco Asia Trust (IAT )
- Pacific Assets (PAC )
- Schroder Asian Total Return (ATR )
- Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies (SST )
Emerging Market Single Country
European Equities
- European Smaller Companies Trust (ESCT )
- Fidelity European (FEV )
- Henderson European Trust (HET )
- JPMorgan European Growth & Income (JEGI )
Global Emerging Markets
- Barings Emerging EMEA Opportunities (BEMO )
- BlackRock Frontiers (BRFI )
- JPMorgan Global Emerging Markets Income (JEMI )
- Mobius Investment Trust (MMIT )
Global Equities
International Income
- Abrdn Asian Income Fund (AAIF )
- Invesco Global Equity Income Trust (IGET )
- JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI )
- Schroder Oriental Income (SOI )
Japanese Equities
- AVI Japan Opportunity (AJOT )
- CC Japan Income & Growth (CCJI )
- Nippon Active Value (NAVF )
- Schroder Japan (SJG )
North America Equities
Only one investment company made the shortlist. We will reveal which on 4 November.
Specialist Equities
- BlackRock Energy and Resources Income (BERI )
- International Biotechnology (IBT )
- Polar Capital Global Healthcare (PCGH )
- TR Property (TRY )
- Utilico Emerging Markets (UEM )
UK All Companies
UK Equity Income
UK Smaller Companies
Global Multi-Asset
Infrastructure
- 3i Infrastructure (3IN )
- Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD )
- Downing Renewables & Infrastructure (DORE )
- Foresight Solar (FSFL )
Private Equity
Property Specialist
- Alternative Income Reit (AIRE )
- Impact Healthcare Reit (IHR )
- PRS Reit (PRSR )
- Triple Point Social Housing Reit (SOHO )
- Urban Logistics Reit (SHED )
UK Property
Specialist Debt
- BioPharma Credit (BPCR )
- CVC Income & Growth (CVCG )
- Fair Oaks Income 2021 (FAIR )
- GCP Infrastructure Investment (GCP )
- Real Estate Credit Investments (RECI )
Investment company news brought to you by Citywire Financial Publishers Limited.
