Key Takeaways
- Seraphim Space Investment was the best-performing investment trust on a market return basis in October 2025.
- The biotechnology category has grown 62% since April.
- Seven trusts saw share price growth above 10%.
Each month, we check in on the returns of UK-listed investment trusts.
In October 2025 the best-performing trust, space technology investor Seraphim Space Investment SSIT, saw its share price grow 19.49%.
The best-performing Morningstar Categories for the month included biotechnology and healthcare, mirroring the best-performing open-end fund groups for the month, as well as Japan and India.
The biotechnology sector has struggled since 2021 because rising interest rates have increased the cost of R&D funding for firms. But with a rise in drug trials and launches—as well as mergers and buyouts—several investment trusts have benefited from this change in sentiment. Since the April 8 trough, the biotechnology category had grown 70% by the end of October, outperforming the Morningstar Global Biotechnology Index by 45 percentage points.
Ben Yearsley, director at Fairview Investing, says: “Sectors like biotech have been ignored since the covid years. The flurry of deals in the last few months has reignited interest and has highlighted the value on offer. With Big Pharma on the edge of a huge patent cliff and with cash to spend it feels like the outlook is good and it’s not linked to AI.”
He also notes that the biggest six pharmaceutical companies have “enough firepower to buy the entire Nasdaq Biotech Index,” and more deals could be on the horizon.
When evaluating investment trusts, investors should focus on long-term returns across multiple years and market cycles. However, short-term returns can provide valuable information about biases within strategies.
Of over 200 trusts in our dataset, 164 rose over the month, seven of these by double digits.
Among trusts with a Morningstar Medalist Rating, Gold-rated trusts Polar Capital Technology PCT and JPMorgan Emerging Markets JMG both rose 9% over the month. PCT traded at an 11% discount at the end of October, while JMG was trading at a 9% discount.
The Best-Performing Investment Trusts of October 2025
- Seraphim Space Investment Trust SSIT
- Biotech Growth BIOG
- RTW Biotech Opportunities RTW
- Fidelity Japan Trust JFV
- International Biotechnology IBT
How the 5 Best-Performing Investment Trusts Performed
Seraphim Space Investment SSIT
- Morningstar Category: Private Equity
- Ongoing Charge: 1.77%
- Premium/Discount: -29.29%
Over the month, the £281 million Seraphim Space Investment rose 19.49% on a share price basis. The trust was trading at a 29.29% discount to its NAV, which remained unchanged at the end of the period. The trust was among the 10 worst performers in the third quarter of 2025 but has since regained some of its losses. However, year to date, the Seraphim Space trust’s share price was still up 55.51% while the NAV increased 17.30%. The trust launched in July 2021.
Biotech Growth BIOG
- Morningstar Category: Equity Biotechnology
- Ongoing Charge: 1.10%
- Premium/Discount: -7.83%
The £262 million Biotech Growth rose 17.91% on a share price basis over the month while the NAV rose 16.14%. The trust’s portfolio beat the Morningstar Global Biotechnology Index by 9.99 percentage points. The Frostrow Capital-managed trust was trading at a 7.83% discount to its NAV at the end of October. Year to date, trust’s share price grew 35.19% while the NAV has jumped 210.94%. Over a five-year annualized period, the share price has dropped 2.75% while trust’s assets were down 1.08%.
RTW Biotech Opportunities RTW
- Morningstar Category: Equity Biotechnology
- Ongoing Charge: 1.75%
- Premium/Discount: -16.27%
RTW Biotech Opportunities’ share price grew 17.44% over the third month, and on Oct. 31, it traded at a 16.27% discount to its NAV. It rose 2.47% on a NAV basis over the month and underperformed the Morningstar Global Biotechnology Index by 3.68 percentage points. The £529 million trust has grown 20.60% in share price and 11.78% in NAV year to date. Over a five-year annualized period, the RTW trust’s share price has returned 1.09% return, while assets were up 7.40%.
Fidelity Japan JFV
- Morningstar Category: Japan Flex-Cap Equity
- Ongoing Charge: 1.03%
- Premium/Discount: 1.02%
Fidelity Japan’s share price rose 13.88% in October while the net asset value grew 11.15%. The NAV outperformed the Morningstar Japan TME Index 5.47 percentage points. At the end of the month, the £265 million investment trust was trading at a 1.02% premium to its NAV. Year to date, the share price was up 36.39% and the NAV rose 16.22%. Over a five-year period, the Fidelity trust’s share price was up 3.23% on an annualized basis, while net assets grew 1.43%.
International Biotechnology IBT
- Morningstar Category: Equity Biotechnology
- Ongoing Charge: 1.20%
- Premium/Discount: -10.39%
The £308 million International Biotechnology’s share price rose 12.27% over the month, slightly higher than the NAV, which rose 11.53%, leaving shares at a 10.39% discount. The NAV outperformed the Morningstar Global Biotechnology Index by 5.38 percentage points. Year to date, the Schroders-managed trust has seen a share price jump of 29.31% so far this year, while the NAV has grown 29.80%. Over an annualized five-year period, International Biotechnology shares were up 6.30% and NAV down 8.75%.
How the 10 Worst-Performing Investment Trusts Performed
The list of worst-performing trusts for October 2025 included trusts investing in natural resources, bonds, private equity, UK equity income and even Japan. The worst performers in share price terms, the £81 million Riverstone Energy RSE, was down 21.11% in share price terms and had a five-year annualized return of 23.31%.
The worst-performing Morningstar Medalist investment trust, Silver-rated Scottish American SAIN, only dropped 0.78% in share price terms over the month, and was the 41st worst performer.
What Are Investment Trusts?
Trusts are closed-end funds, allowing exposure to more illiquid assets such as unlisted companies, or niche sectors including airline leasing, music royalties and renewable energy storage. Unlike open-end funds, trusts can also use gearing or borrowing to enhance returns.
Investment trusts are public companies whose shares trade on the London Stock Exchange, priced in real time. This makes it easy to track their daily performance.
How We Calculate UK Investment Trust Returns
There are two main ways to calculate investment trust performance. With real-time pricing it’s easy to see the daily share price. Another way is to look at the net asset value, or NAV, which is the value of the trust’s underlying assets. The share prices trade at a discount or premium to their NAV, a measure of whether trusts are in or out of favor with investors.
For example, one of the top performers, Biotech Growth, rose 16.40% over the month in NAV terms. In share price terms alone, the trust was up 17.44%, a stronger return for the theoretical investor who bought shares on Oct. 1 and held them until Oct. 31.
Data in this article is taken from Morningstar Direct.
- Net asset value is determined by taking the change in NAV at the end of the period, reinvesting all income and capital gains distributions during that month, and dividing by the starting NAV.
- Share price, or market-price return, is calculated by taking the change in the trust’s close market price, reinvesting all income and capital-gains distributions at the ex-date during the period, and dividing by the starting close market price.
- Discount is based on the ex par NAV, which excludes income and assumes debt repayments are made at par value.
- We have also excluded trusts without a disclosed fund size, trusts below £20 million, venture capital trusts (VCTs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs).
