Investment Trusts

Jeremy Tigue's £2.6bn Foreign & Colonial investment trust has moved to satisfy income hungry shareholders after announcing a 19.7% dividend hike for 2012.

Investment trust veteran Douglas McDougall will step down as chairman of James Henderson's Law Debenture trust in April after 15 years of service.

Aberdeen's Bruce Stout, manager of the £1.4bn Murray International trust, has urged investors to diversify out of bonds to avoid heavy losses when central banks stop the printing presses.

The board of the New Star investment trust - now run by John Duffield's Brompton Asset Management - has predicted a pull-back in markets following the recent run higher.

ITs

Global stock markets have notched up impressive gains over the past three months, with the FTSE 100 yesterday breaking the 6,400 barrier to reach a five-year high.

The board of Alastair Mundy's £631m Temple Bar trust is seeking shareholder approval to widen its international equity weighting as part of a broadening of its mandate.

The £1.3bn Witan investment trust, managed by Andrew Bell, has handed an Asia Pacific mandate equivalent to 9% of its portfolio to Matthews Asia.

Miton's managing director Gervais Williams is to take over the management of the Henderson Fledgling investment trust he ran for almost a decade at Gartmore, ahead of a planned merger with his £127m Diverse Income trust.

Firms argues split-cap crisis was caused by poor management not by structure of zero dividend preference shares.