Investment trust share buybacks broke new ground in October, pulling ahead of the previous record set last year, according to Winterflood Securities.

The broker reported that UK-listed trusts repurchased £8.6bn shares over the first ten months of the year – 35% more than in the same period of 2024.

This brought the year-to-date figure decisively clear of the £7.6bn total for 2024, which was itself a record-breaking year.

A flurry of activity in October from 122 different trusts led to another £1.2bn pumped into buyback schemes − a 34% jump from September and 22% higher than in October 2024.

February remains the high-water mark for this year, when an unrivalled 130 trusts repurchased shares as discounts ballooned across the sector.

Scottish Mortgage (SMT ) once again led the field last month by a sizeable margin, pouring £230m into its own stock.

The next biggest participants were Baillie Gifford stablemate Monks (MNKS ) at £64m, Polar Capital Technology (PCT ) with £44m, and JPMorgan Global Growth and Income (JGGI ) at £42m.

The £12.1bn Scottish Mortgage trust has bought back £1.5bn shares so far this year, surpassing its March 2024 pledge to purchase ‘at least £1bn’.

The trust’s discount reached a low of just over 22% in May and now rests around 11%.

The next biggest contributions since January came from Monks with £348m, and Worldwide Healthcare (WWH ) at £353m. 

Tenders and redemptions were also ahead of 2024 figures this October, totalling £319m compared with just £20m the same time last year. 

Over the first ten months of 2025, redemptions reached £2.6bn, up 52% from £1.7bn the previous year.