Key Takeaways
- Finsbury Growth and Income fell 7.6% in 2025, while its benchmark, the FTSE All-Share, rose 24% in 2025.
- The results of an investor “continuation vote” will be announced after the trust’s annual general meeting.
- Manager Nick Train says that investors will be “bitterly disappointed” by the latest performance, but the portfolio remains the same.
One of the UK’s most high-profile fund managers is braced for a career-defining vote this week, after 2025 saw him failing to beat the benchmark for the fifth year in a row.
Nick Train, the manager of the £980 million Finsbury Growth and Income FGT investment trust for more than 25 years, faces investors at the annual general meeting on Jan. 15 in London. They will cast their votes on whether the 100-year old trust should still be managed by investment firm Lindsell Train, which was founded by Nick Train and Michael Lindsell.
Daniel Haydon, a fund analyst at Morningstar, says the vote is “a clear litmus test for investor faith in the strategy and could see the mandate taken away.”
Despite an impressive long-term track record, a five-year period of underperformance—which has forced the fund manager to apologize repeatedly—overshadows this week’s vote. In 2025, Finsbury Growth and Income saw its net asset value per share fall 7.6% and its share price lose 6%. The fund’s benchmark, the FTSE All-Share Index, rose 24% over the year, and has reached a cumulative gain of 73.9% over the past five years net of reinvested dividends. In contrast, the trust has seen cumulative NAV growth of 11%, and a share price growth of 4.9% over the past five years.
Over 25 years, the trust under Train’s stewardship has achieved a benchmark-beating cumulative return of 628% in NAV terms, and 706% in share price terms.
If shareholders vote for continuation, the trust continues as before. If they vote against, the board will consider alternative strategic options and present shareholders with proposals for the future direction of the company. This could involve the removal of Lindsell Train as investment managers. UK investment trust boards usually appoint an external manager to run the fund, but they can lose their mandate if performance disappoints, although this is rare.
Chris Salih, head of multi asset and investment trust research at FundCalibre, says the outcome of the vote is uncertain but the issues for existing investors are clear: “We have no visibility on the continuation vote or whether Nick will remain as manager but the message really has to be: Do you believe in the process? If you do, then these high-quality businesses are now available at attractive prices.”
Finsbury Growth and Income trust chair Pars Purewal, who urged investors to back the current manager, said: “It is a moment to pause, reflect, and, we hope, affirm your support. In that sense, the continuation vote is not just a formality; it is a valuable opportunity for shareholders to make their voice heard in shaping the next chapter of our story.”
He said the board will vote in favor of continuation, while Lindsell Train founders Michael Lindsell and Nick Train will abstain from voting—but fully support continuation. The outcome will be announced following the AGM.
Train’s Investment Trust Downgraded in 2024
The trust had a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold but was downgraded to Silver in December 2019 and Bronze in 2024.
Morningstar’s Haydon says Finsbury Growth & Income benefits from a veteran fund manager who has followed a well-defined investment philosophy for essentially his whole career, which is sound and has historically delivered.
“Recent performance has been underwhelming, however, and there have been some notable single stock upsets. Concentration has not been rewarded recently.
“While some of the underperformance is attributable to the quality growth style, there have also been some stock-specific disappointments, most notably at Diageo and Burberry. This run of poor relative returns has led to appropriate levels of challenge from the board.”
Nick Train Apologizes, Sticks With Investment Strategy
While underperformance remains an issue, Train has maintained conviction in his strategy, and kept the support of the trust’s board.
Investors might be hoping to see changes to the portfolio to effect a turnaround, but Train says there are no plans to change the portfolio in the near future.
In the December 2025 fund fact sheet, he wrote: “We made no change to the portfolio weightings in your company in December, nor any disposals or additions of holdings and, what is more, there are none imminent.
“This means that investors, doubtless as bitterly disappointed by last year’s performance as me, must decide whether the current portfolio constituents are going to continue to perform poorly into the New Year and beyond, or if 2026 will bring some respite. In other words, if performance is to improve, it is unlikely to be because of any market change to the current portfolio, but because the current portfolio constituents begin to do better.
“Of course, I tend to the latter view—that the portfolio has the potential to perform much better. I believe it is comprised of excellent businesses, with great brands or franchises and, if the companies can execute on their growth opportunities, their share prices should follow.”
The trust holds 20 companies, including London Stock Exchange Group LSEG, Burberry BRBY, and Unilever ULVR. It trades at a 5.4% discount to its NAV. Some 86.7% of the portfolio is concentrated in its largest 10 companies, of which Sage Group SGE is the largest holding, accounting for 12% of the total portfolio.
Should Existing Investors Sell or Vote Against the Motion?
FundCalibre’s Salih says that Nick Train has always been consistent in his approach.
“He has made it clear how his process works and that his portfolio currently consists of excellent businesses that should see their share price appreciate if they can take advantage of their growth opportunities,” he says.
“Clearly performance has been challenging, but it can also be explained. Nick’s style has previously had a number of tailwinds supporting the types of companies the portfolio invests in (high quality, durable, cash-generative businesses). Those tailwinds have become headwinds for the past five years or so with the likes of banks, miners and other energy businesses driving the UK market to all-time highs,” he adds.
Investors should think carefully about selling out of the investment trust now when confidence is low.
“Ultimately, Nick has demonstrated when his style is in favor he can outperform strongly. He is a very patient investor and that patience has been tested in recent years, but the argument could easily be made that now is possibly the worst time to lose faith given where valuations are for some of the quality companies held in the trust,” Salih says.
