Key Takeaways
- Among Morningstar-rated trusts, Impax Environmental Markets was the best performing investment trust in the first quarter, while Nick Train’s Finsbury Growth & Income was the worst.
- The overall best-performing investment trust in the first quarter, Africa Opportunity, gained 100% while the worst-performing trust, Hydrogen Capital Growth, shed 53%,
- All Medalist-rated trusts posted negative returns in March.
The outbreak of the Iran war hit first-quarter performance of the UK’s investment trusts, with the majority of Morningstar Medalist-rated trusts posting negative returns.
Among investment trusts covered by Morningstar analysts, Neutral-rated Impax Environmental Markets IEM was the standout, gaining 5.36%. The worst performer was Bronze-rated Finsbury Growth & Income FGIT, which lost nearly 10%. The performance of the £850 million Finsbury trust, managed by Nick Train for more than 25 years, has been under scrutiny for failing to beat its performance benchmark in 2025 for the fifth year in a row. But the manager survived a vote in January this year with 98% of investors supporting the status quo.
Impax Environmental Markets, which has net assets of more than £800 million, has been targeted by Saba Capital, a US activist investor trying to shake up the boards of UK investment trusts. In response, in a vote due on April 16 Impax’s board has offered investors the opportunity to exit the trust at net asset value. As the trust’s share price is currently below the net asset value, the upward move in the share price in a weak month for markets suggests that investors expect the motion—which is being backed by Impax Environmental Markets’ board—will pass and the trust will be closed. The trust’s open-end sister fund, which also has a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Neutral, will continue in its current form, even if the investment trust is wound up.
Among Gold-rated trusts, £247 million TR Property TRY was the worst performer in March, with a 16.8% decline, as well as for the first quarter, when it lost 5.70%. Flexible allocation trust Personal Assets, with net assets of £1.6 billion, was the best performer in March, with a loss of 4%. The £2.7 billion City of London trust, which is managed by the longest-serving UK investment trust manager Job Curtis, was the best performer in the first quarter with a gain of 4.40%.
Among the 297 of investment trusts outside of Morningstar coverage, the first quarter saw a wide dispersion of returns, from the 100% gain for the £28 million Africa Opportunity AOF to the 53% loss for Hydrogen Capital Growth HGEN, a £39 million renewable energy infrastructure trust.
As well as being the best performer in the quarter, Africa Opportunity, a London-listed trust that focuses on value and special situations stocks in west and South Africa, was also the best-performing investment trust for March, with a gain of 24%. The trust was boosted by the outperformance of its biggest holding—Ghanaian insurance company Enterprise Group—whose share price more than doubled in February.
The Best and Worst Performing Investment Trusts in March
March saw all Medalist-rated trusts post negative returns. Of these investment trusts, the best performer was Ruffer Investment Company RICA, a £912 million “all-weather” trust designed to protect capital during times of heightened stock market volatility. The trust posted losses of less than 1% in March but gains of nearly 3% in the first quarter.
“Ruffer Investment Company has a number of positives for risk-averse investors, including a clear and consistent focus on capital preservation, with a well-resourced, experienced, and collegial investment team,” says Morningstar fund analyst, Tom Mills.
Away from Medalist-rated trusts, £641 million venture capital fund Seneca Growth Capital VCT HYG was the worst performer in March, losing nearly 40%.
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. All net asset figures quoted are as of March 31, 2026, and are different from market capitalization numbers.
All figures shown in the table are total return, including income and assuming all dividends are reinvested.
