InvestmentsMay 8 2023

Coronation companies: the 36 trusts older than King Charles

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Coronation companies: the 36 trusts older than King Charles
Coronation fever: King Charles greeting crowds weeks before his coronation. (Paul Grover/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Some 36 investment companies active in the UK were established before the birth of King Charles.

Dunedin Income Growth Trust and Scottish American Trust (known as Saints) both celebrated their 150th anniversaries earlier this year.

Some 34 other trusts were launched before 14 November 1948, when the King was born, according to the Association of Investment Companies.

Annabel Brodie-Smith, communications director of the AIC, said investment companies are a “19th century invention” that remain just as relevant in the 21st century.

“As we celebrate King Charles’s coronation, it’s reassuring to think that one in ten investment companies that are around today were launched before he was born,” she said.

It is very important to maintain reliable dividend growth as well as pay a decent yieldNeil Rogan, Murray Income

David Barron, chairperson, Dunedin Income Growth, said in its early years, DIG offered professional management and access to a portfolio of US bonds, principally fixed income securities issued by railroads. 

“As investors increasingly sought growth and growth of income through the mid years of the last century, through a period of both wars and periods of high inflation, DIG reacted to focus much more on equity investment. 

More recently, DIG took powers to invest in non-UK equities to give greater scope to diversify the sources of income after BP’s dividend cut in 2010 following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.”

Neil Rogan, chairperson of Murray Income, said reducing costs to investors is rightly one of the industry’s concerns at the moment. 

“It’s also very important to maintain reliable dividend growth as well as pay a decent yield.”

The 36 companies that were launched before King Charles’s birth

Company name

AIC sector

Launch date

10-year return on £1,000

20-year return on £1,000

30-year return on £1,000

F&C Investment Trust

Global

19/03/1868

£3,079

£8,217

£14,110

Investment Company

Flexible Investment

14/11/1868

£1,950

£3,646

£14,735

Dunedin Income Growth

UK Equity Income

01/02/1873

£1,842

£5,111

£8,591

Scottish American

Global Equity Income

31/03/1873

£3,167

£8,912

£10,780

JPMorgan American

North America

18/06/1881

£3,857

£10,008

£19,020

Mercantile Investment Trust

UK All Companies

08/12/1884

£2,130

£8,797

£19,223

Henderson Smaller Companies

UK Smaller Companies

16/12/1887

£2,404

£14,258

£8,302

JPMorgan Global Growth & Income

Global Equity Income

21/04/1887

£3,595

£11,219

£17,209

Alliance Trust

Global

21/04/1888

£2,879

£6,774

£12,268

The Global Smaller Companies Trust

Global Smaller Companies

15/02/1889

£2,185

£13,450

£16,230

Merchants Trust

UK Equity Income

16/02/1889

£2,337

£6,392

£11,236

Edinburgh Investment Trust

UK Equity Income

01/03/1889

£1,808

£6,563

£8,365

Bankers

Global

13/04/1888

£2,468

£7,622

£14,256

AVI Global Trust

Global

01/07/1889

£2,365

£8,650

£23,103

Law Debenture Corporation

UK Equity Income

12/12/1889

£2,561

£9,206

£19,348

City of London Investment Trust

UK Equity Income

01/01/1891

£1,918

£5,768

£10,635

abrdn Diversified Income & Growth

Flexible Investment

05/01/1898

£1,121

£2,617

£3,560

TR Property

Property Securities

05/05/1905

£2,160

£9,240

£35,310

BlackRock Smaller Companies

UK Smaller Companies

02/05/1906

£2,575

£18,128

£24,686

Baillie Gifford China Growth

China / Greater China

24/01/1907

£1,257

£4,466

£3,110

Murray International

Global Equity Income

18/12/1907

£1,819

£9,883

£15,110

Witan Investment Trust

Global

17/02/1909

£2,432

£6,888

£12,066

Scottish Mortgage

Global

17/03/1909

£4,452

£17,222

£27,887

Hansa Investment Company

Flexible Investment

01/01/1912

£1,322

£5,553

£16,539

Murray Income

UK Equity Income

07/06/1923

£1,808

£5,468

£9,575

Finsbury Growth & Income Trust

UK Equity Income

15/01/1926

£2,473

£12,064

£21,367

Temple Bar Investment Trust

UK Equity Income

24/06/1926

£1,584

£5,761

£13,064

Brunner

Global

01/01/1927

£2,883

£7,765

£12,163

JPMorgan Japanese

Japan

02/08/1927

£2,375

£4,947

£2,810

Monks

Global

06/02/1929

£2,972

£8,125

£16,047

JPMorgan European Growth & Income

Europe

15/03/1929

£2,719

£8,035

£15,317

Shires Income

UK Equity Income

31/03/1929

£1,864

£6,724

£6,481

Canadian General Investments

North America

15/01/1930

£3,184

£9,408

£29,323

Henderson Far East Income

Asia Pacific Equity Income

30/05/1930

£1,395

£5,598

£10,493

3i Group

Private Equity

01/04/1945

£7,786

£17,610

n/a*

Henderson European Focus Trust

Europe

01/01/1947

£2,744

£10,362

£26,958

Source: theaic.co.uk / Morningstar (data to 18/04/23). * Data unavailable.

sally.hickey@ft.com