An investment trust chaired by Lord Rothschild is one of a number of companies which have been reclassified by the Association of Investment Companies into its new Flexible Investment sector.
RIT Capital Partners, one of the UK’s largest investment trusts which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, with net assets of £281m and a market capitalisation of around £2.4bn, has been reclassified into the AIC’s Flexible Investment sector.
The AIC launched its investment company sector, Flexible Investment, last month to help IFAs find and compare multi-asset trusts more easily.
As part of the launch, which incorporates “companies whose policy allows them to invest in a range of asset types,” the AIC has published profiles of the companies, together with performance tables.
| Companies to be reclassified in the Flexible Investment sector:- |
| BACIT |
| BlackRock Income Strategies Trust |
| Capital Gearing Trust |
| Henderson Alternative Strategies Trust |
| INVESCO Perpetual Select Balanced Risk |
| Miton Worldwide Growth Investment Trust |
| New Star Investment Trust |
| Personal Assets Trust |
| RIT Capital Partners |
| Ruffer Investment Company |
Ian Sayers, chief executive at the AIC, said: “The investment company sector has always housed a diverse range of sectors and investment strategies. One unifying theme in the Flexible Investment sector is the companies’ investment policies, which allow them to invest in a range of asset classes.
“Interestingly, in the Flexible Investment sector, each company stands out for a different style and strategy and they are by no means a homogenous group.
“Some of these companies have been following their strategy for decades, whereas others have recently followed this approach.
“We hope investors and advisers will find the new sector classification useful and can easily compare the different strategies and styles in more detail.”
According to AIC, companies in the new sector include BlackRock Income Strategies which embraced multi-asset investment last year after a 100-year history, while other companies, including Personal Assets Trust, Capital Gearing and Ruffer Investment Company, have a capital preservation strategy.
Henderson Alternative Strategies, on the other hand, targets specialist funds including hedge funds and private equity, while Miton Global Opportunities principally invests in closed ended funds, and Invesco Perpetual Select Balanced Risk focuses on balancing exposure between debt securities, equities and commodities.
Lord Rothschild and his family are the largest shareholders at RIT Capital Partners with a holding of 21 per cent.
Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services, said: “There is always going to be the odd fund that doesn’t meet a narrower sector definition.
“Flexible Investment is a home for funds that don’t meet the narrower fund classification. If in this sector it does allow the flexibility to have a more varied asset allocation.”
